Too Much to Handle
by Lucid Obscurity
Summary: Someone puts an advice column up in Domino High's school newspaper. But there is more to this column than what the name suggests. It causes an enraged Seto Kaiba to go through any lengths to find out who wrote about him.
1. Dinosaurs or Dino Duds?

Hi Everybody! This is my first ficcie! Just something that popped into my nearly empty head...... ^___^ Any ways, please review! ^__^ 

Disclaimer: IT"S NOT FAIR!!! I don't own ANYTHING!! Not Yu-gi-oh, not nothin'!! (Goes off to grumble about not owning anything....) 

"Hey did you guys hear about the new advice column in the school paper?" Joey Wheeler asked his friends at lunch. They were in cafeteria, grouped at their favourite table, close to the food- Joey's choice, naturally. Tea Gardener was looking cheerful, as usual, Tristan Taylor was alternating between shuffling Duel Monster cards and taking huge bites out of his sandwich and Yugi Moto was idly spinning his lunch around with a fork. 

"Which paper?" Tristan asked, his mouth full. 

"The one that has the miraculous story of why you're still in high school and not in grade two," Joey said sarcastically. 

"You're one to talk," Tristan replied calmly. "You didn't learn the alphabet until grade three." Everyone at the table turned to stare at Joey, who felt himself turning red. 

"Eh he he," he nervously laughed. "Oh come on! It was hard! There are so many different letters and the go with other letters! They're different shapes and...." he trailed off weakly. 

No one said anything. They just continued to stare at him. 

"What about the paper, Joey?" Tea asked, trying to change the subject and spare Joey further embarrassment. 

"Wha? Oh, yeah! Right! Some one is writing advice to losers in the advice column. It's really funny! I wonder who wrote it?" 

"Do you happen to have one with you?" Yugi asked curiously. 

"Hang on a sec!" Joey dashed out of the cafeteria and came back a few minutes later with a badly wrinkled paper, clutched in his hands. 

"That was fast," Tea commented dryly. 

"Dude, di this go through the wash or something? How can you read it?" Tristan asked after snatching the paper and comically turning it upside down, then right side up, then in a circle....... 

"Gimme that!" Joey snapped as he grabbed the paper. "It ain't THAT bad But you can't read, so how would you know?" 

"That reminds me. Joey-" Tristan was rudely cut off as Joey clamped a hand over his mouth. "Ha ha ha," Joey laughed self-consciously. "Tristan is just a little bit tipsy from last night. We had a contest to see-" 

"Who could drink the most beer again?" Yugi and Tea said together, thoroughly exasperated. The last time the two idiots had that contest, they were wandering around drunk and trying to score with random people on the street. Unfortunately, Joey's dad had been one of them, so, when he discovered the beer missing........ Let's just say it wasn't a pretty picture. 

"No. Not this time," Joey said. He blushed suddenly. "You tell them, Tristan." 

"Mmph Mphg Gumph," Tristan mumbled. 

"What?" 

Tristan shoved Joey away from him and said, "Let go of me!" 

"Well, what happened?" Tea asked as Joey and Tristan began to fight. "Not again," she thought, and by the look on Yugi's face, he thought the same thing, too. Looking up, he gave Tea a small smile and asked the two doofuses, "Yeah, what happened?" 

"I-We-Well, what do ya know? I forgot!" Joey laughed in the way that made some people nervous as he scratched the back of his head. 

"Actually, it was Joey's idea. He wanted to see who could do the best cartwheel- of all things, a CARTWHEEL- in the house!" Tristan explained. Joey's cheeks started to turn red. 

"We were at Tristan's," he said. 

"Yeah, well, Joey crashed into the wall and I, um, felldownthestairs," Tristan mumbled the last part quickly. 

"Huh?" Tea said at the exact same time Yugi said, "What?" 

"I...... fell...... down...... the...... STAIRS!!!!!" Tristan yelled. Luckily, the noise in the cafeteria was so loud, or else Tristan and Joey would be a good source of entertainment. For those people who like stupid, pointless things, which usually end in injuries, any ways. 

"You what?!" Tea exclaimed. 

"You heard me," Tristan snapped. "Now let's forget this ever happened!" 

Ignoring Tristan's comments, Joey continued. "Yeah! He crashed down the stairs because he turned," he laughed. 

"_You _crashed into the wall. And why the hallway was such a great place is an unanswered question from the brain of Joey. I think it's busy though, answering other more important things like two plus two equals five." 

Somehow, Yugi found this to be quite funny, as he was rolling around on the floor, laughing. Soon, everyone was staring at him. That is, everyone in the whole cafeteria. When Yugi noticed how every eye was on him, he got up, sat on the bench and picked at his lunch, all the while blushing furiously. 

"Riiiiiiiiighhhhhht.........." Joey said. "Any ways, here's what it says about Rex Raptor." Joey cleared his throat and read. 

"Rex Raptor, you know why dinosaurs are extinct? It's because their brains were too small. Since you obviously have the capacity of you dino cards, my advice to you is to pick some new cards. Ones, that are actually useful, not like you. Either that, or spend less time duelling with your dino duds, and more time trying to catch up to your kindergarten class. Or is kindergarten too hard for you? We all know you can't read this article, so maybe using your pathetic cards with your tiny brain is the best thing." 

"That was harsh, man," Tristan said in mock sympathy. "Who wrote that?" 

"I dunno, but whoever did has my agreement!" Joey nodded after he spoke for more emphasis. He narrowly avoided being hit by a tray one of the students was carrying. 

"I wonder what Rex is thinking now," Yugi mused. 

"What and accurate description," Tea stated. "Wish I knew who wrote it! They have my vote!" 

Meanwhile, in another part of Domino, an outraged Rex Raptor was snarling as he read the article. "Grrrrrrr, I wish I knew who did this! Dino duds my ass! I'll KILL whoever wrote this! He'll be SOO sorry he made fun of my dinosaurs!" He ripped up the article and threw it all over the floor. 


	2. A Reunion With an Old Enemy

I'm bbbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccckkkkkkkkkk!! Heeheehee!! How was the first chapter? You likey? Remember my motto: you like 'em, I write 'em! So review and remember, NO FLAMES!! ^___^ 

After class, Tea, Tristan, Joey and Yugi were sitting in the living room in Grandpa's game shop. Joey and Yugi were duelling. Joey was losing, as usual. 

"Can you believe that someone dissed Rex like that? Wow," Joey admired. 

"I'm putting that article in my diary," Tristan stated. As everyone looked at him funny, he stammered, "Scrapbook, I meant scrapbook," and turned red. 

"Uh Hun," Tea said sarcastically. 

"Right," Yugi nodded comically. "Oh, and by the way. Joey, you lose!" 

Not paying any attention, Joey looked at his wrist as his watch had started beeping insanely. "Geez, gotta run! I'm late for my doctors appointment! God, see ya Yug! bye Tristan, Tea!" Joey half stumbled, half fell out the door as he hurriedly jammed one shoe on. He took off, leaving three stunned faces. 

Tea stared out the door. "Do you think he realized he forgot his-" 

"My shoe!" Joey dived back in the doorway, jammed the shoe on his other foot and ran off, again. 

"That was fast," Yugi commented as all three of them watched Joey run down the street, almost kill two people, barely miss a car and nearly flatten two more innocent passer-by's. Tea and Tristan nodded dumbly. 

Tristan looked at the clock on the wall. "Ack! Gotta go Yugi! See ya Tea!" Tristan carefully put his shoes on, (possibly to make an exaggerated point), before racing out the door. 

"Well, at least he didn't forget-" Tea was nearly flattened as Joey raced back in, AGAIN!!! 

"Where's my deck?! I put it on the- There it is!" Joey grabbed his duel deck from the table, but in his haste, he knocked the cards all over the floor. As Tea and Yugi knelt to pick them up, Joey looked at his watch, he freaked out and nearly ran Yugi and Tea over. "NOW I'M DEAD!!!" he howled. 

"Joey. Joey! JOEY!! Calm down! Grandpa can drive you! Hang on for five seconds!" Yugi cried as he desperately pulled on Joey's coat. 

Half-an-hour later, Yugi and Tea sat at the park. Joey had been successfully dropped off at the doctors office, and no one knew where Tristan had disappeared to. "Well, at least THIS is peaceful," Tea sighed as she and Yugi sat on the park bench. They watched the park sit in perfect stillness, as the setting sun turned it into a fiery scene. 

"Guess I better go," Tea said as she rose from the bench. "Gotta make dinner," she said with a small sigh. 

"Yeah, guess you're right," Yugi smiled. 

"So, see you tomorrow?" Tea asked. 

"Yep! You bet! Let's check up on the advice column and see what they wrote!" Yugi laughed. 

"Bye!" Tea called over her shoulder as she and Yugi walked in opposite directions. She could hardly wait till tomorrow. 

As Yugi left the park that evening, he heard someone walking close by. "Tea? Is that you?" he asked uncertainly. 

Out of nowhere, an extremely hard fist hit Yugi square in the face. His head reeled and he staggered backwards. Yugi groaned and clutched his face. An all too familiar emerged from the bushes. From his toque, to his purple hair, Yugi inwardly cursed his luck, for before him, stood a raging Rex Raptor. 

"You wrote that article, didn't you?" Rex snarled, as he lifted the smaller boy off the ground. Yugi shook his head in denial. Rex let his right fist connect with Yugi's left eye. He threw Yugi to the ground where Yugi doubled over in pain. 

"I swear, I didn't!" Yugi gasped. 

"Liar!" Rex's other fist hit Yugi's right eye. Yugi sat down, hard. Eyes watering, he floated on the brink of consciousness. Suddenly, Millennium Puzzle around his neck started to glow. In a bruised Yugi's place, an unhurt Yami Yugi stood, eyes glaring daggers at a certain purple-haired dino-freak. Rex's fist came towards Yami's face. He caught it effortlessly. Same with the other. Standing with Rex's wrists caught in each hand, he brought his face close to Rex's. Then he spoke. 

"Rex Raptor, if you EVER come near Yugi again, there will be serious consequences. I honestly don't want to punish you, but Ra help me, if you come near us I will." The words glided out in a deadly flow. They bore into a sneering Rex's brain, branding his mind with the simple, deadly words which froze the sneer on his face. One look into Yami's furious eyes, and he knew he wasn't bluffing. So, he did the most sensible thing. Turned tail and ran like hell. He ran from the anything-but-empty threat, away from the man with the dangerous crimson eyes, away from the boy Yugi and away from the beating he performed and the scar that would remain as a result, for the rest of his life. Yami Yugi watched Rex flee, satisfied that he left. Then he turned his thoughts inward, to Yugi. 

"Yugi? Can you hear me?" he asked the boy. 

"Yeah, thanks for saving me. I owe you one........." Yugi replied weakly. His head flopped onto his shoulder, too weak to support it's weight and his eyes closed. 

"Yugi! No! YUGI!!!" the five thousand year old pharaoh yelled. In the real world, Yugi was sitting on the ground with two black eyes and some nasty bruises. Little did he know, help was on the way. 

"Oh my God! Yugi!" she screamed as she spotted him. She picked him up, unaware of the blood seeping into her jacket, and carried into her car, where she drove him to Grandpa's. 

"Yugi! Oh my...... Mai, thank God for finding him. What happened?" Grandpa asked worriedly. 

"I don't know. I just found him in the middle of the park on one of my walks. Oh, is he going to be okay?" the beautiful blond replied, voice full of concern. 

"Well, thank you for finding him. Thank you so very much. I guess we'll be taking him to the hospital. I'll see you later, mmm?" 

"Yeah, I'll come back tomorrow, to see how he's doing. I hope he'll be okay. Bye!" Mai walked back to her car, wondering what Yugi, sweet, caring Yugi did to deserve _that?_ And _who _of all people would want to hurt _Yugi?_


	3. New Day, New Problems

Ooooooooohhhhh, so how do we like the fic? I know that leaving Yugi like that isn't very nice....*cries* poor Yugi! But don't worry, he'll be okay! Yay!! Oh, sorry about the Rex age mistake. Let's just hope that my next victim isn't the same age as well. Besides, Rex is the same height as Yugi, so I thought he was the same age! Well, I'll just shut up and let you read the next chapter!! Ta ta! 

The next day, Joey Tristan and Tea sat outside and waited for Yugi. He didn't arrive. The bell rang as they sadly walked to class. Still, no Yugi. At the fifteen minute break, they saw a familiar figure with his head down on his desk. 

"Yugi!" Tea, Tristan and Joey exclaimed as they ran over to him. When he didn't look up, the smiles faded from their faces and caused Joey to ask, "Dude, are you okay?" He didn't answer. 

"Yugi?" Tea asked quietly, "Are you hiding something?" 

"No," a muffled reply came from the motionless figure at the desk. 

"Yugi, something's wrong. You can tell us, we're your best friends," Tristan said. 

"Well, last night I met up with Rex in the park, and...... Well....." Yugi looked up. They drew a sharp gasp at the sight. Yugi's eyes had huge shiners around them, a few dark bruises on his cheeks and a split lip. 

"My God, Yugi, what happened?" Tea asked softly. 

"I don't know. One minute I was walking home, the next I was at Grandpa's," Yugi left off with a small whimper of pain. His lip was hurting as it got pulled when he spoke. 

"Oh Yugi," Tea sighed softly. 

"I'm gonna beat that creep up! He is SOOO DEAD!!!" Joey bounded to his feet, knocking a chair over as he did. "He he..... oops....." 

"I'm with Joey!" Tristan snarled. 

"No! Guys, the spirit helped me. He scared Rex off, but I don't know how," Yugi said quietly, knowing that if anyone else heard him speak of another voice in his head, they would think he was insane. 

"Well, are you all right, Yug?" Joey asked. 

"I hope so. Grandpa took me to the hospital and they said that I should be okay, but if I get dizzy or anything like that, I should call them. I'm gonna look like this for few days, or weeks, though." Yugi sighed. 

They were interrupted as the bell rang. At lunch, Joey held up a paper. "You know what I found out?" 

"Your an alien that was too stupid to fly to Uranus, got lost and ended up bothering all intelligent life on earth?" Tristan said lazily. 

"Well, that would rule you out," Tea said, smiling. 

"Shut up!" Tristan said with no force. 

"Will you idiots stop listening to that big idiot and listen to me?!" Joey snapped. 

"No," came the reply of the other three. 

"Grrrr, any ways, before Mr. Stupid-" Joey shot a glare at Tristan, "interrupted me, I have some big news. This paper interacts with all the other schools in Domino. Everyone reads this! Also, it goes to the community centre as well, actually, all school newspapers go there too, so EVERYONE in Domino knows about this column!" 

"No way!" Tristan blew out his breathe, shocked. 

"Whoa, wait a minute. EVERYONE?" Tea asked excitedly. 

"Yep, _everyone!_" Tristan confirmed. "Unless Joey's totally lost it," he pointed his fork at Joey. 

"Point that fork somewhere else," Joey growled as he flipped through the paper. "Here we go. Weevil Underwood, this time...." 

"Weevil is a sneaky little runt. He loves to cheat, brag about it, then wonders why no one likes him. Oh, poor Weevil. Please, spare me the reasons as to why you are a sneaky, lying, cheating little runt and why people should learn to like you. Here are some interesting facts. Did you know that he stole the rules to the Duellist Kingdom? What a loser. The embarrassing part is he lost in the very first duel he entered. GET A LIFE FREAK!!!!! Another interesting thing, the cards a duellist keeps are a reflection on his personality. And what type of cards does our little weevil have? he is a bug specialist. What does _that _say? Only that he's soooo low, the only thing that can be compared to him is the lowly weevil. But, that would be insulting to the bug, but what do you know? He's already named after it!! Plus, you know how much everyone likes weevils. my advice is to crawl back under the rotten log you came from, you'll do the world a huge favour! Oh, and you may want to change your outfit. Green doesn't look so good; try mud brown!" 

  
"I'm dying to know who writes this!" Joey exclaimed. 

"They rock!" Tea said. 

"Even Yugi managed a smile and a laugh at the article. But he couldn't help thinking, no one else knew about the Duellist Kingdom's rules. It had to be- He was jarred out of his thoughts by Joey jabbing him in ribs. 

"Yug! Yug! YUGI!!!" Joey yelled in Yugi's ear. 

"What the hell do you want?!" Yugi screamed. 

"Whoa, no need to yell. I was just wondering, are you gonna eat that?" Joey gestured at the uneaten plate of food. 

"No, I'm not hungry. You have it," Yugi pushed the plate to Joey, who started shovelling food into his mouth with a fork like a gardener shovelling dirt out of a hole. 

"How rude," Tea reprimanded him. "What about "thank you," Joey?" 

"Thankssshhhhhh," Joey mumbled through a mouthful of food. 

The bell rang. Joey shovelled food into his mouth, faster than ever, caused him to choke, have Tristan, Tea and Yugi freak out and whack him on the back, then continue eating. 

Meanwhile........ 

"I play Basic Insect in attack mode! And, I'll power him up by adding Laser Cannon! Now, ATTACK!!" a blue-haired, gold glasses wearing duellist yelled. Any guesses who? 

"Weevil Underwood, can you come down from there?" A man in a black suit stood tapping his foot on the ground. 

"Can't you see I'm busy? Get lost!" Weevil snapped. 

"I'm afraid this can't wait. We found from an anonymous source that you stole the rules from the Duellist Kingdom. You will be punished accordingly." 

"Get lost! I'm BUSY!!!" 

"Hahahaha!! Weevil! Your insect is destroyed! You lose!" Weevil's opponent crowed triumphantly. 

"NO! How could this happen?!!" He turned his attention on the stranger. "This is all YOUR fault!! I'll get you!! How dare you interrupt me?!! Wait! What are you doing?! Put me DOWN!!' 

A swift order from the strange man had Weevil roughly picked up and half dragged, half carried away to his fate, caused by his own doing. 

Well, what do you think? How was it? I hope that the idea of newspapers interacting with others isn't too stupid, but I needed to explain how some people found out about the column. Any ways, I need ideas on who to write an article about next. Well, actually, I have two people picked out already, but after that......... ^ ^ So input is always welcome!!! Until next chapter!! Buh Bye!!! 


	4. Certain Complications

Just then, the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch and the beginning of class. The group got up to leave, chattering happily and laughing at Joey. Suddenly, Yugi felt a wave of dizziness crash over him. He fell onto one of the benches. Now, the dizziness had transformed into a killer headache, like a thousand knives were stabbing into his skull. " 

"Hey, Yug, what's wrong?" Joey asked, concerned. 

"My..... head... hurts......." Yugi gasped, clutching at his head. 

"Do you need any help?" Tea asked softly. 

"No..... I.... don't want to..... hold you..... up......" Yugi tried to give a small smile, but it looked more like a grimace of pain. 

"But...." Tristan began. 

"Go!" Yugi said. 

They shrugged and walked off, leaving Yugi to cope with his pain. When the trio reached the class, Tea started to worry. "Guys, do you really think leaving Yugi was such a good idea?" 

"Sure! He'll be okay!" Joey replied confidently. 

"Now that you mentioned it, I think we should go back and-" Tristan was cut off as the bell rang again, this time to start class. All the students obediently sat down at their desks, groaning. Tea looked wildly around the room. Still, no sign of him yet. 

Tea turned around as she heard a familiar, unwelcome, nasty laugh. She looked straight at Seto Kaiba, wealthy CEO of KaibaCorp. He had his usual blue trench coat on, with a smirk to go with it. 

"Upset, Tea? Your little runty boyfriend isn't here, is he? Maybe he decided to kill himself, after looking at your hideous face!" 

Tea fumed. She wasn't in a mood to tolerate insults, and especially, not Kaiba. That jerk deserved a slap across the face, so she gave it to him. Hard. "Don't you ever talk about Yugi like that! You don't know what happened! Your heads stuck so far up your ass, you have no CLUE about how to interact with people, let alone have FRIENDS!!" 

The room turned deathly quiet. No one had ever dared insult this executive before, let alone speak to him. Kaiba's smirk turned into a snarl. He grabbed Tea by her shirt and slammed her into the blackboard. "Don't you EVER touch me! You know how people who paid the price for insulting me?!" He shook her and Tea choked as Kaiba's hands locked into her shirt. 

"I don't know. Since no one bothers to talk to you, I'm guessing none?" Tea smirked impudently. 

"Shut up!" He almost completely closed off her airway. "All you EVER do is make sickening speeches about FRIENDSHIP!! Who gives a damn about _friendship_?! No one! That's why no one listens to you _touching _speeches, especially not your so called, friends! That's right! Not even Yugi!" 

Tea was ready to do anything so she could breathe. Especially if it meant a considerable amount of pain to Kaiba. Joey stood up and was about to run over and nail Kaiba in the back of the head, but when he saw the door open, he immediately sat down, as of all the other students. Too bad for Tea and Kaiba . Neither of them noticed their teacher walk into the room. The first thing he saw was Kaiba holding a struggling Tea against the wall. Guess what his first reaction was. 

"SETO!! What do you think you're doing?! Put Miss Gardener down, right NOW!!" 

Kaiba felt his face begin to turn red as everyone stared at him. Now that the adrenaline caused from his anger wore off, he dropped Tea roughly on the ground. He called Tea something obscene, so she slapped him again. This time, he slammed her so hard into the wall, she felt her breathe leave her lungs in one big whoosh. They started to yell at each other. It would have gone on like this for quite some time, if their teacher wasn't standing behind them. Unfortunately, he was and he had some other, better ideas. 

"Mr Kaiba! Miss Gardener! Stop that right now! Both of you are to go to the office and you will each receive a weeks worth of detention. Do I make myself clear?" 

Kaiba mumbled something. Tea received looks from Joey and Tristan which said, "You ROCK!!" She flounced out, head held high. Kaiba stalked out after her and slammed the door, his coat flapping. 

"Betcha think your soooo smart," he sneered. "Way to go, bitch! I'm going to miss ten meetings. TEN freaking meetings! Thanks a whole lot!" 

Tea's hands were clenched so tightly, her nails broke he skin on her palms. "I am NOT here with Kaiba. Kaiba is a big, freaking Kuriboh," she thought. She just happened to glance at Kaiba, and the image of his face on a Kuriboh's body made her giggle. She instantly regretted it. 

"What's so funny?" he hissed. "Is it that you wear the same thing every freaking day?! Or that Yugi likes someone else?!" Seeing the shocked look on Tea's face, he drove it home. "You heard me. Yugi hates you! He is in NO WAY interested in you! Didn't see THAT, now did you? Ha, I'm right! You-" 

"Shut up, Kaiba," Tea said quietly, dangerously. 

"I bet that-" he started, not getting the message. 

"SHUT UP KAIBA!!" Any self-control Tea had left, was gone in about a second. She shoved him into the lockers. "You better stay away from me, got it?! If you fail to get this into your thick head, I'll KILL you!" Glaring into his eyes to make sure he understood, Tea stormed off in the direction of the principals office, leaving a seething, stunned Kaiba to trail in her wake. 

How was it? Please tell me what you thought. That means, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Sorry, I think I ate too much sugar again..... 


	5. Detention and Presents

To all you readers out there, I just have to say that last chapter was just what happened between Tea and Kaiba. After all, Kaiba _is _my favourite character, so don't get mad at me if there are a few scenes with a bit of bashing. I don't always agree with the things he does, and I have to admit, though, he did deserve the slaps! 

Tea's day was horrible. It was soooo unfair that she had to be punished because of that dumbass Kaiba. As she sat in the empty classroom, (well, to Tea, Kaiba counted as a nobody, but any ways) she reviewed over her day. First, Yugi had gotten worse, then Kaiba had landed both of them in trouble, not to mention the scare she received when he had her pinned against the blackboard. Even though she was stuck in detention with a complete retard, she couldn't help but snicker slightly. After all, she didn't have any plans, but the wealthy CEO did. _She _was making him miss ten important meetings. She couldn't help but slightly feel better. 

When the long, boring hour was up, Tea and Kaiba were the only students left in the school. As they were walking down the hall, on opposite sides and Tea making it VERY clear that she hated him, she accidentally walked into him. "Don't get in my way," he hissed, and stalked off, to his big, empty mansion. 

Tea went to Yugi's house. The group was there, well, all except for Yugi, which was odd, because it was HIS house. "Hey Tea," Tristan greeted her. "Do you know about Yugi?" 

"What about Yugi?" she asked, dreading the answer. 

"He ended up in the nurses room; they called his grandpa and he was taken to the hospital. I guess there was something else wrong with him," Joey shrugged unhappily. 

"Oh my God! I was stuck in detention with dumbass Kaiba! I should have been here, with you guys!" Tea angrily paced the room, but the anger soon turned into sadness. "How is he?" 

"Not too bad," Joey and Tristan said at the same time. "Will you-" "Stop-" "Shut up!" 

Tea shook her head at the two boys as they rolled around playfully punching each other. "Grow up," she said. Who knew they would get all worked up just because dumb minds think alike. 

"I'm giving it to her!" Joey gasped as he pulled at Tristan's skilful arms that were trapping him in a headlock. 

"No, me!" Tristan panted as he tried to avoid Joey's wildly flailing feet. 

"Shaddap! You said _I _could!" Joey ducked out of the headlock. 

"No I didn't!" Tristan was dodging punches. 

"Yes you did!" Joey tripped and fell on the floor. 

"Fine! We'll give it together. Is that okay?" Tristan suggested. He glanced down at Joey who was still on the floor. "Oh good! You all ready know who your king is!" 

"What?!" Joey asked. 

"Uh, never mind. So? How 'bout it?" 

"All right, all right!" Joey picked himself off the floor and stood beside Tristan. 

"Tea, we know how hard it's been hanging out with this dork- oof!" Tristan was elbowed in the ribs. "Get on with it," Joey muttered. 

"As I was saying," Tristan shot a glare at Joey, "we know how hard it's been with your parents fightin' and all." 

"And we'll always be there for you," Joey said solemnly, "And you better remember that, or else...... Ow!" Joey received a kick on his shins. 

"Smarten up, stupid!" Tristan whispered. To Tea, who was watching the hilarious scenario and becoming more and more confused by the minute, he said, "We want you to have this." 

"Yeah, Yugi got it all together, but since we don't want him to become your favourite, we pitched in with the money," Joey stated. 

"You're ruining it....." Tristan muttered in Joey's ear. "So, here." He reached into his pocket. A queer look came over his face, followed by an angry one. "Joey! I'm going to kill you!" he yelled. 

"What Tristan means is that he lost it. But, me being the responsible person I am, found it and am now giving it to you." Joey gave Tristan an "I am so cool," look. Tristan rolled his eyes. 

"????" Tea thought, now thoroughly confused. "What are you guys talking about? Joey, _you, responsible_? Puh-lease." 

"Aw, look at the credit I get. Here you go. From all of us." Joey handed Tea a badly wrapped package. As Tea was opening it, another fight started between Joey and Tristan. " 

"You said we both could give it to her," Tristan snarled. 

"Hey hey hey! If you had it, you would just have given it to her! I was just doing what you would have done!" Joey retorted. 

Tristan thought about this. "Hmmm, touché." 

"That's what I thought," Joey nodded satisfied. 

Tea finally managed to get the five metre string of tape off. "Who wrapped this, any ways?" she grunted as she wrestled with the paper. 

"Joey," Tristan said as Joey stated proudly, "Me." 

"She means you did a crappy job, retard," Tristan laughed. 

"Nuh uhn!" 

"Yeah huh!" 

Tea finally got the first layer of paper off as Tristan and our favourite blond continued to bicker. "If this is a joke......" she warned. She gently tugged the rest of it off and....... nearly dropped the object in surprise. 

It was a locket in the shape of a heart, the front had a picture of Yugi, Tristan and Joey. It was very small and she noticed that half of Joey and Tristan's faces were cut off. The work of the two clowns, obviously. 

Tea opened it. On the right side was a group picture of the three boys, on the left..... An inscription from her friends. It said; 

"Tea, 

Even though things may get tough, 

Never forget that you always have us. 

We'll always be here for you, 

No matter what you do, your stuck with us! 

Just thought you should know that. 

Love, Yugi, Tristan and Joey. 

Tea started to cry. She flung herself at Joey and Tristan. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" 

"Joey and Tristan hugged her back. It was a perfect moment, until Joey let out a shriek and backed away. 

"What's wrong with you?" Tristan stared at him. 

"You hugged me! You gay freak!" Joey ran around in a circle, complaining that he felt dirty. Tea and Tristan just stared, then burst out laughing. 

Tea felt her tears return. "What about Yugi??" she whispered. 

Joey stopped what he was doing. "He's in his room, resting. Let's go see him, if that's all right, Tea?" 

"Yeah," Tea agreed. 

The trio crept upstairs. "Shhhh," Tristan cautioned. 

They walked into Yugi's room. He was lying in his bed, with his eyes closed. "Oh, Yugi," Tea sighed softly. 

Yugi's eyes flickered open. "T- Tea?" he questioned weakly, "Joey? Tristan?" 

"Yugi," they all sighed with relief. 

Tea embraced Yugi in a hug. She felt him tense up, then relax. 

"Thanks Yugi," she whispered. 

"For what?" he asked, his eyes widening. 

"You know, the locket," she said softly. 

Yugi sat up straight. "You mean-" 

"You know, this one." She showed Yugi the locket. 

"How..... What...... How do you know......." Yugi sputtered. 

"You mean you didn't get it for me?" Tea felt some tears return. 

"No no! I did, but, _how did you get it?"_

_"_Joey and Tristan gave it to me_," _Tea replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

Yugi groaned. His head had started to hurt again. The doctor told him that he had to take it easy, no stressful situations, in other words. This was certainly one. Joey and Tristan started silently edging toward the door. "Joey!" he yelled, his head throbbing. 

"Looks like he wants to talk to you, bud!" Tristan yelled as he ran out the door. Immediately following his departure, they heard a loud crashing sound, followed by a lot of little thumps. Then Tristan swearing. Ignoring the noises, Yugi turned to face Joey. 

"Joey," he said in a slow, menacing voice. 

"What is it, Yug?" Joey replied, not at all aware of the tension in the air. 

"Where did you get that locket?" Yugi asked slowly. 

"In one of your drawers. Your grandpa said that it was in there." 

"Joey, why didn't you ask before you took it?" 

"Well, I figured that Tea needed it for some cheering up. Why?" Joey asked, still not getting it. 

"Do you know WHY it was in my drawer?" Yugi asked again. 

"Noooo, I don't know why it was in your drawer." 

"JOEY!! That locket was for Tea's BIRTHDAY!! You couldn't wait THREE days?!!" Yugi exploded, his head ringing. Now his lip was starting to sting again, he pulled it when he yelled at Joey. 

"Oooohhhhhh. I thought she needed it now. I mean, she just spent an hour with Kaiba! Eh, oh well, hahahahahahahaha!!" 

"Tea could only stare. "You got me a birthday present that expensive? Oh, thank you soooo much!" She flung herself at Yugi who was crushed under her. He started to panic. "H-Hey! Tea! Get off! I can't BREATHE!!" 


	6. The Article to End All Articles

Warning: This chapter has the article about Seto Kaiba. It contains bashing, but it's just this chapter. I honestly don't believe what I wrote, but I needed to have the article SOMETIME!! So, just thought I'd warn ya....... 

Now presenting chapter Six!! 

The next day, Yugi and friends sat in class. The lesson was boring, as usual. Joey kept crossing his eyes and sticking his tongue out at Kaiba, when their teacher, and Joey's target wasn't looking. He would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling teacher. 

"Mr Wheeler, is there something wrong?" he asked, just as Joey turned to face Kaiba. Turning red, Joey stammered, "No sir." 

"Just because you may find Mr Kaiba irresistible, doesn't mean you can keep staring at him like that. Please keep your hopelessly tangled love life out of this classroom. And why are your eyes still crossed, Mr Wheeler?" 

"Um, give me a minute to think about it," Joey said, turning red as the rest of the class laughed at the insult, hoping he would drop it. 

"We're still waiting, Mr Wheeler," the teacher said after ten minutes went by. 

"Ooh, toughie." Joey put on a mock thinking pose and rubbed his chin. 

"If you can't give me a reasonable explanation in ten seconds, you will be asked to cross your eyes all you want in the hall." 

"Um, I see better when I cross my eyes and sticking out my tongue helps me hear better. Too bad if it's distracting, just don't look at me!" 

The teacher glared down at him. "Out?" he asked meekly. A cold nod was his only answer. Muttering something about bossy teachers who don't get anything, Joey slunk out the door. The whole class reopened their books and prepared to sink back into their isolated, pit of boredom. But not Joey. He continued to stand and make faces through the window at the teacher with no sense of humor. And at Kaiba, he just seemed to ruin everything. 

At lunch, the group sat at their regular table and flipped through the newspaper. "Track meet, assembly, like they don't tell us enough all ready, band practice...... Here it is!" Joey took one look and broke down laughing. "Your gonna _love _this one Tea!" he wheezed. Yugi and Tristan stared at him. Joey took two deep breathes, crossed his eyes and read; 

"Seto Kaiba: Loner or Loser? 

Well as you all know, Seto Kaiba fit's into those categories quite well. He sits in a corner all by himself to eat lunch. Notice how he never talks to people? I mean, machines don't count! But, if you hang around with him for too long, you'll end up just like him! Does the world really need another Seto Kaiba? 

Oh yes. Kaiba's head is stuck so far up his butt, he can't, in anyway, improve his social life. But, if he were to pull it out, he would die. We all know what _we_ want! Good thing Kaiba isn't poor. He would live by himself, get absolutely NO respect and everyone would hate him. Whoops, my bad. That's the way things are now! So sorry. Well, Seto, the best thing you can do is stay home and play with your machines. You should know by now you aren't welcome here!" 

As Joey finished the article, everyone was doubled over in laughter. Joey started to turn blue, he was laughing so hard, he forgot to breathe. "Serves him right," Tea thought happily. "He soooo deserves it!" 

At his table, Kaiba read the article. His features twisted in a snarl and he crunched the paper up with his hand. Whoever wrote this was going to pay. And he had a pretty good idea who was going to feel pain. 


	7. Shattered Friendship

Hello, my loyal readers! Thank you for all your reviews, I appreciate 'em soooo much! I'm barely finding time to type, as schools getting demanding!! But, I will do my best to continue this fic. Don't worry, it ain't even close to being over yet! Well, now I'll stop taking up space and let you read more! 

Tea spent another boring detention with Kaiba. Their teacher had gone off on some more errands, so they we're alone again. She had her head propped up by her hands. Her elbow slipped and her chin came crashing down on the desk. "Owwwww," she muttered, rubbing her chin in pain. She could hear Kaiba's muffled snickering. She checked for the teacher, but they weren't there, probably out on an errand. She turned around and snapped, "What's so, funny?!" 

Kaiba wiped a tear from his eye and said, "Guess you have problems keeping your head up." He smirked smugly and leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on his desk. He overbalanced and crashed into the floor. It was Tea's turn to smirk. 

"Smart move genius. Maybe now you banged some sense into your thick skull." She turned around and thought, "Ha! Serves him right!" 

The rest of the detention was not a happy time, for Tea. Kaiba kept muttering various profanities under his breathe and Tea seemed to be he was directing them to. She sat there and opened the locket her friends gave her. Seeing them in their comic poses comforted her. Joey and Tristan, arms slung over each others shoulders gave strange peace-symbols. Yugi smiled in his quiet way, while winking. "With them around, I can get through anything," she thought peacefully. 

Suddenly the locket was snatched out of her fingers, by none other than Seto Kaiba. He read the message inside and sneered, "How very touching." 

"Give it back, Kaiba," Tea said levelly. 

"I think I'll keep this. Everything has a price, you want it, you pay it." 

"You dirty, cheating, SCUM BAG! No wonder no one likes you! I don't know how Mokuba can even STAND being in the same room as you!" Tea screamed. 

Kaiba stood up, blue eyes blazing. He started towards her. "I'll kill you, you bitch! No one EVER insults Mokuba!" 

Tea stood her ground. "You just don't get it, do you? I like Mokuba. He's a sweet, caring, little boy. He was worried when you, Mr. Big shot, went and got yourself stuck in that goddamn game! So he asked US! You have NO idea how hard it was for Yugi and Mai and Joey and ESPECIALLY Mokuba! Joey and Mai DIED!! But you didn't care! All you cared about was hating and not working with people lower, in financial status that is! You are the lowest of the low in social status; you don't even have any friends! Yugi and Joey are at the top of that list, hell, MOKUBA will be up there! But no, you're stuck at the bottom, wondering how you got there, and all the time it's been right in front of you but your so blind you can't see it! Yugi has friends, Yugi has us! You have Mokuba and so many electronic _friends_, that I wonder how you manage to make it through school! I think Mokuba spends more time trying to get your attention than anything else. But you don't care! For you, it's "Gotta finish my _precious _work! I don't give a damn about anything else, not Mokuba, not NOTHING!! Seto Kaiba, you are a WRECK!!" 

For a minute Kaiba stood frozen, the words sinking in. He hurled the locket against the wall, instantly breaking it. Then, he sank to the ground. 

Tea froze. When she realized what happened, the tears came fast and hot. "I HATE YOU, SETO KAIBA!!!" she yelled through her tears. "You bastard, that was a gift for my BIRTHDAY!! From people who actually have hearts! Not like you, Seto Kaiba!" 

She walked over to him and was about to yell more harsh, but true words, when she heard something. She looked down at the heap of blue material on the floor. She heard it again, a quiet sound. Kaiba's shoulders and back were shaking violently. 

"Think it's funny, do you?!" she exploded angrily. "I'll-" Kaiba looked up. He was crying. 

Mokuba was worried. Seto should have been home by now. There were two big men in black suits wanting to se him. Despite Mokuba telling them that he was in another important meeting, they wouldn't take no for an answer. He decided to do what usually calmed him down. He ate chocolate, which made it even worse. Hopping around like a maniac, he ran to the phone and called Yugi. 

"Turtle Game Shop," came Yugi's voice. 

"Yugi?! IneedtotalktoYugi!!" 

It took Yugi about two seconds to realize Mokuba's high pitched voice. 

"Mokuba? This is Yugi. What happened? A-Are you all right?!" Yugi asked, suddenly concerned. He knew Kaiba didn't like him, or his friends and didn't want Mokuba communicating with them. Mokuba, however, was friendly towards them, and eternally grateful for saving their souls. Even if Seto wasn't. 

"I'm worried 'cause Seto didn't come home. There are two men in black suits waiting for him. I'm really scared!" Mokuba was speaking incredibly fast, as to confirm Yugi's doubts. 

"Hey! Yugi! Who is it?!" Joey yelled in the background. 

"Shut up! It's Mokuba!! I'm on the phone!" 

"Mokuba?!" Joey asked, eyebrows, knitting together. He picked up another phone. "What did your brother do now?" he drawled lazily. 

"I don't know!" Mokuba shrieked. Joey and Yugi heard a few crashes. Wondering what was going on, Joey and Yugi pressed their phones into their ears. "They're coming!" a hoarse voice whispered, before the phone went dead. Joey slammed down the phone and ran to Yugi, only find him staring at the phone in horror. 

Joey drove them to the Kaiba Corp. Headquarters, despite grandpa's protests. 

"I'm a safe driver!" he insisted. Turning out of the driveway, he nearly hit two people, then a parked car, mailbox, tree and five more people. Hearing people's angry reactions as Joey swerved all over the road, Yugi groaned and slid into his seat. "I hope no one sees me here," he thought desperately. 

Three blocks away from their destination, they saw a kid dash out in front of the car. Joey hit the brakes, causing himself and Yugi to fly forwards. Joey smacked his head on the steering wheel, having no beliefs whatsoever in seat belts. Yugi's seat belt tightened abruptly, cutting into his chest. Joey was swearing viciously, at the kid and his own misfortune. The kid started to take off again, as the initial shock wore off. Yugi suddenly had an idea. 

"Mokuba?" he yelled at the kid. He stopped dead. Then turned slowly. When his eyes landed on Yugi's face, he ran towards them, pulling off the bandana that covered his face, similar to the one he wore in the Duellist Kingdom. Yugi opened the door and Mokuba deftly slid into the seat. Joey, still rubbing his head, floored it and they were off again. When they arrived at the game shop, Joey made it clear no one was to say anything about Mokuba's dramatic entrance. And about the drive there. Or back. Hell, the way he was going on, he didn't want anyone to even MENTION the trip. Once safe in Yugi's room, Mokuba explained to Yugi and Joey about how Seto was never late and how his appointments meant more to him than anything, well, except what family he had left.   


"Well, was Kaiba there yesterday?" Joey asked.  


"I don't know! I was at a friends house!" Mokuba snapped impatiently, raking his fingers through his hair and making it stick up in odd looking clumps. 

Something was bothering Yugi. "Mokuba, what did you mean by, "They're coming?" 

Mokuba looked around the room, as if someone had camera's or microphones installed in the walls. "They couldn't take waiting anymore, so they tried to grab me and use me to force Seto to come out. I heard them talking though, so I decided to get outta there before they could nab me. It was really scary. I tied a bandana around my head and took off-" he shot a nasty glare at Joey, "when I was almost run over by a idiotic moron. Any idea who that was, Joey?" 

Joey managed a sheepish laugh. "How was I supposed to know that was you?" he asked. 

"What would you have done if I was hit?" Mokuba prodded. 

"Floored the gas and never speak of it again," Joey replied like it was the most sensible thing in the world. Yugi hung his head, exasperated. 

"Mokuba, I think I know where your brother is," he told the little boy. 

Mokuba stopped telling Joey what his big brother would have done to him if he was hit, and brightened up instantly. "Really?" he asked Yugi, eyes shining with hope. "Where?" 

"At the school. In detention. With Tea." Yugi grinned wickedly. He was knocked over as a black hair ball jumped on him. Mokuba was hugging him with all his strength. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!" he yelled. 

Yugi pried Mokuba off him as Joey stood up and yelled, "To the school!" He marched to the door and....... fell flat on his face. 

"Riiiggghht......." Mokuba said sarcastically. 

It turned out that while Yugi was telling Mokuba Kaiba's location, Joey, having nothing better to do with his short attention span, had called Tristan. When the group headed outside, they were nearly run over as Tristan came dashing wildly through the door. "Gotta.... See....... This......." he panted as Yugi, Mokuba and Joey stared at him like he grew an extra head. 

"What? Can't I see Kaiba's reaction when he finds out two hundred men with guns and tear gas and twenty tanks are waiting for him?" When no one blinked he added, "What? Isn't that what happened?" No answer. 

"JOEY!! I'm going to kill you!!" he launched himself at Joey, only to be seized by Yugi and Mokuba. When he calmed down, Joey was heading for the drivers seat. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "No way. I'm driving." Tristan said calmly. 

"I called it!" Joey snapped back. 

"Gimme a break! You almost always hit something and it's ALWAYS immovable objects! How did you even pass your drivers test?!" 

"I'm a pro! Passed on my first try," Joey grinned cockily. 

Tristan raised an eyebrow. "Fine. I failed three times. Can we go?" Tristan continued to stare at him. "all right! All right! I failed six times! Happy?!" 

"Yes," Tristan smirked smugly. So, Tristan drove them to the school. Tea and Kaiba only had ten minutes left in their detention. When Yugi walked near the classroom, he heard some loud crashing noises. What was going on? When he walked in, the source of the noises were revealed. 

"I HATE YOU!!" Tea yelled, as she kicked Kaiba. She grabbed a textbook, half-blinded by tears and threw it at the motionless figure on the floor. She was so freaking angry at the cold-hearted jerk. He broke her locket; the one her FRIENDS gave her for her BIRTHDAY!! She failed to notice the fact that Kaiba wasn't moving. Or insulting her. 

"What's going on?" A soft, all too familiar voice shook Tea out of her wild rampage. She sank to the ground, shaking and sobbing hysterically. Their irresponsible teacher walked in. "Miss Gardener, Mr Kaiba, you're free to- Is something wrong?" he asked after noticing Tea and Kaiba on the floor. 

"No sir!" Tristan replied quickly. They hustled Tea and a lifeless Seto Kaiba out the door. A very confused teacher was left standing in the middle of the room, wondering what the hell happened in there. Why was Tea crying and what the hell happened to Kaiba? He sighed, figured it was none of his business and continue to grade his students work. 


	8. Blazing Impressions

Here we go! Another chapter, another......... month? Whoa, I'm getting behind in my updates..... 

Let's just see what Tea and Kaiba are up to. 

They drove back to Yugi's house in silence. Well, Tea was still crying into Yugi's shoulder, soaking his coat, but everyone else was quiet. 

"Yo, Tea? Everythin' all right?" Joey asked, when they got back. 

"Apart from Kaiba breaking my locket, everything's just peachy!" Tea snarled. 

"Well, sorry," Joey rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Wait, did you say he BROKE it?" 

Tea showed them the smashed remnants of the once beautiful gift. "He threw it against the wall," Tea said quietly, painfully. 

"I'LL KILL HIM!!!!" Joey yelled. 

"Why would Seto do something like that?" Mokuba asked, looking up from his older brother's unconscious body. 

"Ask him and find out," Joey said dryly. He waved a hand in front of Kaiba's face, and jerked back in surprise as his eyes snapped open. Kaiba tried to sit up, but collapsed again, clutching his head and side. Realizing where he was, he snapped, "Get out of my house. Now!" When nobody moved, he tried again. "Get the hell out of my house!!" Everyone collapsed, laughing. 

"Seto! We're at Yugi's!" Mokuba wheezed. 

"I knew that!" he snapped, his face turning hot and red. 

"Dumb ass," Joey and Tristan muttered at the same time. 

"Shut up you retards!" Kaiba snarled. 

"Seto....." Mokuba pulled on his sleeve, "be nice." 

Kaiba smiled and ruffled his hair. "All right Mokuba, I will." The smile immediately disappeared as he turned to face the still laughing Yugi, Tristan and Joey and was replaced by a scowl. "Not to them, though......." he muttered under his breath. Little did he know that Mokuba was still in hearing range. "Seto. Be. Nice." Mokuba punctuated each word with a small tug of Kaiba's hair. Eyes watering, he forced a smile. "Okay, okay. Stop pulling my hair," he said gently. When he turned around again, the smile was once again, replaced by a scowl to end all scowls. 

While everyone else was laughing at Kaiba's embarrassing mistake, and enjoying themselves, they failed to notice the solitary figure still quietly crying on a certain persons shoulder, which was now soaked. 

"Tea? Are you all right?" Joey asked. 

"What does it look like? I'm not okay! Leave me alone....." she trailed off on the sobs building in her throat. 

Anger blazing in his eyes, Yugi turned on Kaiba. "Why did you do it Kaiba? Why was smashing a present so important? Do you know what goes on in Tea's head? Do you REALIZE what she goes through?" Yugi dragged Kaiba down so that they were face to face, his blazing violet eyes boring into Kaiba's frozen blue. Kaiba couldn't shield himself from Yugi's penetrating stare, no matter how he tried. The smaller boy's eyes held a fierce, suppressed rage; no matter how many barriers Kaiba put up, that stare unnerved him. 

Yugi's lips curled into a snarl. "If you knew what pain Tea goes through outside of your selfish life, you would NEVER have hurt her," he whispered savagely. Kaiba slowly straightened when Yugi let go. It took a while for the words to sink in, but they did. Badly shaken, he did the only thing he could. 

"Mokuba, we're leaving," he said shortly. 

"But Seto-" Mokuba began. 

"NOW!" Kaiba dragged Mokuba away from Yugi and out the door. He paused, then sent a dagger glare at Yugi. "Moto, touch me again and I'll kill you. Wheeler, write another thing like that about me, and I'll make sure that you'll never write anything EVER again." He slammed the door on his way out, as Mokuba called, "Bye Yugi! See you tomorrow! Thanks for everything!!" 

On the long walk back to the Kaiba mansion, Mokuba was rambling on about how happy he was to find his big brother, how funny it was when Kaiba thought he was in his own house......... You get the idea. Kaiba was lost in his thoughts. He knew what he had to do. 

Meanwhile: 

"What does he mean, "write another thing like that about me," blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada!" Joey snarled as he furiously paced the small Moto household. 

"I think that he thinks that you wrote that article about him," Tristan pointed out, blandly. 

"?????" Joey stopped pacing. "How? I'm the one who laughs about it! I got a well deserved F in writing," Joey stated proudly. 

Tristan stared at him, then grinned like a cat who had just cornered a mouse and was about to jump on it. "Yeah, and you learned the alphabet in grade three. What does that stay about you?" Tristan joked. 

As Joey was about to jump on Tristan, he was silenced by Yugi saying softly, "Tea, it's all right. We'll buy you another one. You're getting my coat wet......" 

"R- Really?" she asked, finally listening to Yugi's soft, comforting words. 

Yugi nodded, finally relieved that she was listening to reason. "What are friends for?" he said with a small smile. 

Tea suddenly hugged him. "H- Huh?!" Yugi gasped. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around her and patted her back. "You're making me blush....." Yugi mumbled, his cheeks glowing softly. 

Tea let go quickly. Joey stared. Tristan knew it was a comforting, friendly hug. Not wanting to be excluded, he grabbed Tea too. Joey just stared. Tristan, Yugi and Tea let out simultaneous, exasperated sighs. A slow smile crept up on Joey's face. "I get it," he said slyly. 

"Get what?" Yugi asked, puzzled. 

Tea, finally realizing what Joey meant, blushed and said, "It was a friendly hug." 

"Riiigggghhhhttt........." Joey said in the same, obnoxiously sly voice. 

"Shut up Joey," Tristan said. 

"Whatever. Congratulations Yug! Tristan, kinda late. Tea's taken already." Seeing Tristan start to rise, he quickly added, "And I'll just be leaving now!" He took two strides and fell as Tristan tackled him. The sun shone down on the game shop as Yugi and Tea sat laughing as Tristan and Joey fought playfully, laughing the whole time. 


	9. Birthdays and Broken Hearts

Hello! I'm back for more writing!! Just wondering, as musing writers often do, who should the article be about next? If you want, you can send some suggestions for me in reviews!! ^_^ Reviews are ALWAYS appreciated! I'll back off and write more now. Later! 

"So, how's your eyes doing, Yugi?" Joey asked. They were back in the cafeteria, looking for the infamous article. The bruises on Yugi's eyes weren't as dark, but they were still there. His lip had healed and the swellings had gone down. 

"Fine," Yugi replied like it was no big deal. 

"Wonder who it is this time," Tristan said as they gazed the paper. 

"Let's find out," Tea squealed with excitement. 

Joey let out a muffled snort as he read the title. As they stared at him, he seemed to be at the bursting point of containing all that laughter. He managed to clear his throat enough to read, 

"What is up with Tristan Taylor's hairdo?" Joey paused, took one look at Tristan and burst out laughing hysterically. "What _is _up with his hair?!" he shrieked. The look Tristan gave him could have stripped paint. "Keep reading," he said softly. 

"First of all, what's the hair modelled after? A shark fin? Some kind of weapon? So, in self defence, he just waves his hair at everyone? What kind of idiot walks around, shaking their head at everyone? Tristan Taylor obviously. A shark would have more fashion sense, considering the fact that they don't go around copying other big, dumb, stupid animals. Actually, he should be more of a monkey, but that would insult the monkey. Does this loser actually STYLE his hair like that?! What does he use, a few hundred gallons of super-glue? If so, no wonder he only has two pairs of clothes. He wastes all his money on glue for his, _precious_ hair. That ugly brown trench-coat, and the horrible school uniform are the only clothes he has in the whole world. My advice to you is, go crawl under a rock and never come out; freaks of nature and mutants just do not clash with normal human beings. Oh, and stop insulting the sharks. They want to copyright their fins so that losers like you can't steal their style." 

Everyone except Tristan started laughing. Not because it was mean, but because it was true. Well, the hair part, any ways. While no one actually knew what his hair style was modelled after, it did resemble a shark fin quite well. So, Tristan sat gnashing his teeth while everyone laughed. 

"Hey, you guys!" They turned to see a shouting Bakura running towards them. He tripped over his shoelace and plowed into a table. He decided that it might be safer to walk the rest of the way, and proceeded to do so. 

"What did you think of that article?" he asked in his soft, accented voice. 

"It was-" Tristan began, snarling. 

"Pretty funny!" Bakura laughed. They turned and stared at the silver haired boy like he was crazy. "Who knew that an insult to Tristan could be so funny?!" he laughed. 

"Yeah, it's pretty funny!" Joey agreed wholeheartedly. Even Tristan had to laugh at Bakura's reasoning. Then, Joey ruined it. "Yeah, did you know Tristan's hair is past his elbows? He looks like a long-haired hippie when it's down! That's why it's in that freaky, scary style!!" Joey failed to notice Tristan glaring at him. "Joey! You swore you would never tell! You liar!" Swiftly covering his mouth, he blushed red. 

Everyone stared at him like he was a total nut-case. "Maybe _I _should cut my hair......." Bakura mused. 

"NO!!" everyone yelled at the same time. 

"Okay, okay. I won't cut my hair," he said. "See you later, guys!" Bakura walked off muttering, "See? Someone likes it! I am not weak. Yeah, well, _you _have longer hair than me. So there!" 

"That was weird," Tea said. Yugi, Joey and Tristan just nodded dumbly, staring at the long-haired boy. 

"Great, I got another detention with creepy Kaiba," Tea groaned. 

"Just don't beat him up too badly," Tristan laughed, remembering Kaiba's little adventure with Tea's temper. 

"Yeah! Save some for me!" Joey joked. 

"Stop being so GREEDY, man! I get first dibs!" Tristan yelled. They started to fight, AGAIN. Yugi and Tea shook their heads at their comedic antics. "Grow up," they said in unison. 

Joey and Tristan had fought the whole lunch hour. Now, Tea sat in detention, slumped in her chair. "Damn Kaiba, damn world," she thought bitterly. A crumpled ball of paper bounced off her head. Snarling, she turned around, only to see Kaiba wasn't there. He had chosen a seat beside her. Another paper ball hit her. She ignored it. Five minutes later, another ball smacked her in the face. It had the word, "Tea" on it. She opened it up and could barely distinguish the untidy, wrinkled scrawl. 

"Tea, 

Meet me at the lockers in the east wing after detention tomorrow. Come alone. Please. 

Seto Kaiba" 

She crunched it in her hands, shooting a frosty glare at Kaiba. What did he want now? Probably to beat her up. Wait a minute. Tomorrow was her BIRTHDAY!! She couldn't waste her time with Kaiba. She promised Yugi that she would go to his house after detention was over. She knew what she would rather do. 

Kaiba sat next to Tea, a confident smirk on his face. "She will come," he thought. "I wonder if she knows what's in store for her." 

Tea's birthday arrived quickly and happily. Her parents got her that new pair of boots she had wanted. Yugi said Grandpa had a surprise for her after school. Tristan kept grinning evilly and Joey seemed to be lost within himself, eyes glazed over and mumbling "pizza" constantly. People were staring as she dragged him along, but she didn't care. It was her birthday, after all. 

Too bad the teachers didn't seem to share her enthusiasm. In fact, the just plain didn't care. At lunch, Joey was so obsessed with Tea's birthday, he totally forgot about the paper. Instead, Yugi reassured her that they were working on a plan to get her out of detention today, which raised her spirits a considerable amount. 

After class, Yugi, Joey and Tristan accompanied her to her detention. Kaiba was already in his desk. He looked.......... different. Maybe it was the lack of his famous smirk, but Tea could have sworn his smile..... brightened when he spotted her. When Joey walked into the room, his smirk was back in place. Yugi approached the teachers desk. 

"Um, sir? I was wondering if Tea could be let out of detention early today?" he asked uncertainly. 

"Yugi, why would I do a thing like that?" 

"Well, it _is _her birthday and-" Yugi began. 

"No buts! Miss Gardener stays here. Sorry, but that's not a good enough excuse." 

"Maybe I could convince you with a little help from-" Joey stepped in, "Mr. Money!" He flourished his hand with a twenty-dollar bill in it. 

"Mr Wheeler!" their teacher exclaimed. 

"Yes sir, that was wrong," Joey hung his head and back into his pocket the money went. 

"Get out of the classroom, they still have a detention to serve," Yugi and Joey were told. 

"You scum! Tea has a PARTY waiting for her! That is so unfair! Who do you-" 

"Joey!" Tea whispered savagely. 

"Mr Wheeler, if you ever speak to me in that way again, you will be suspended! Now, please LEAVE!" 

"Thanks anyway," Tea mouthed at Yugi. 

"You're welcome," Yugi mouthed back. 

Tea sat down. She banged her elbows down violently on the desktop. Her head followed, cushioned on her arms. 

"Have a good day?" Kaiba smirked. 

"Shut the hell up, Kaiba!" Tea snarled. 

"Ooh, I'm soooo scared," he retorted. 

"Quiet!" came the teachers sharp reply. 

Kaiba sat, silently mocking their supervisor. Tea buried her head in her hands. This was going to be a long hour. 

When he was sure Tea wasn't looking, he watched her, concern written all over his face. Tea suddenly looked up. Kaiba snapped his head around; he could feel his cheeks growing hotter by the second. What was WRONG with him? 

Tea groaned and looked upwards. Suddenly Kaiba snapped his head around so that his hair was facing her. She could have sworn he was watching her. What was his problem? He had already wrecked the best present anyone had ever given her, what more did he want? What was so great about causing her more pain and tears? What a jerk. 

Kaiba mentally cursed himself. Then, he mentally slapped his face until he was sure his mind was erased all thoughts of that, that, _person_! She SAW him staring at her. She SAW him turn red. But the worst part was, she KNEW there was something not quite right about him. 

Hell, HE knew there was something wrong with him. "Admit it Seto." A younger form of Seto Kaiba appeared, years younger than his present age. "You l-" He was cut off as an older, meaner version appeared out of nowhere. 

"This idiot don't know nothing! You don't have time for this! You just feel pity! PITY!! Pity for breaking a locket?! Puh-lease! Pity for being a loser! Go back to your computer and forget about this bitch! You have yourself and Mokuba and that's all you need!" This version stood, nodding smugly. Then the real Kaiba interrupted. 

"Excuse me, but why do I pity myself? You said pity for breaking a locket. I broke that stupid locket and I don't feel pity for myself," seeing his dumbfounded expression, he raised an eyebrow and added, "Well?" 

The image opened and closed it's mouth wordlessly. In a huff, it vanished. The young Kaiba merely shrugged while stifling giggles and disappeared as well. Kaiba was transported back into reality........ More like dropped on his head. Now, he was certain. 

When they were finally free, Tea walked out of the room and down the hall rather quickly. She was in a hurry, and with good reason. Yugi was waiting for her, she ran out the door, not once looking back. 

Kaiba lounged by the lockers in the east wing. He waited for Tea. His confident smirk was back. She would come....... 

4:30 came, then went. Where was she? Probably just late, he reassured himself. When 5:00 rolled around, Kaiba abandoned all hope. She wasn't coming. She was definitely NOT going to come. He walked dejectedly to the doors. Calling his limo, he slid into the back seat, graceful as any cat and shut the door. 


	10. The Amazing, Flaming Joey?

OOOOhhhhhhhh!!!! So much HOMEWORK!!!! Well, after a couple of months, here is another chapter. Enjoy! 

Tea was having a blast! A surprise party was prepared in her honour! Grandpa's surprise was giving her access to any 3 cards she wanted. Naturally, she went for fairy type, taking the Dark Witch, Harpy Lady (after watching Mai duel, who wouldn't want it?) and the Cyber Shield. Speaking of Mai, she was there as well as Bakura and his other being, Mokuba, and of course, the usual gang. Tea discovered why Joey seemed to be chuckling evilly the whole day. When she did, oh Lord how she wished she didn't. A Flame Swordsmen walked through the door. Tea was dumbfounded. It turned out to be a whining Joey, complete with sword. 

"My, Joey," Mai grinned wickedly, "I didn't know you looked so good in tights......" Mai winked. Joey just blushed. 

"Your lucky it's Tea's birthday and I'm happy or else I'd kill you!" Joey muttered. 

"Bring it on tights!" Tristan shot back. 

"Why you-" Pretty soon, everyone was watching the Flame Swordsmen, a.k.a. Joey Wheeler trying to kill Tristan. 

Joey was in a bad situation, he was choking from Tristan's hands wound tightly around his throat, while trying to bash him with his "Flaming Sword of Battle." Luckily, it was made of plastic. Tristan's head must've been SORE as Joey's "sword" connected with a hollow sounding noise, over and over and over....... 

Tea was really starting to enjoy herself. When the doorbell rang, Yugi, being the polite host, went to answer it. A tall figure in a long, blue, trench coat stood in the doorway, towering over the shorter boy. He barged in, bowling Yugi in his haste to cross the room. Tristan went to push him out, followed closely by Joey. As Kaiba struggled against Tristan's iron grip, he shouted, "I just need to-" Then he noticed Joey. A smirk came over his face. "Nice tights, Wheeler. Do you just wear them when your with your boyfriend here, or have you decided to include the midget in the fun?" Kaiba smirked. 

"THAT'S IT!!!!!" Joey howled, as he lunged forward, instead hitting the doorway and backing away slightly, clutching his nose in pain. 

"Let me talk to T-" Kaiba was cut off as Joey's sword connected with his face. He was about to teach that punk some manners, but decided against it and to just leave it. He started to the door, but was blocked by a familiar figure. 

"Whaddya want, Kaiba?" Tea asked, eyebrow raised. 

"Just come outside," he said, as he lead her outside. 

"If this is-" Tea began as soon as they stopped, but was cut off by Kaiba. 

"Look, I just thought, that I'm.............sorryforbreakingyourlocket," he spilled out. 

"I don't have time for- Wait. Did you just say your sorry? When are YOU ever SORRY?!" Tea said a sarcastic smile on her face. 

"Now," he spat. "Here, I...... felt bad for hurting you." He fumbled in his coat-pocket and nearly dropped it. In his hand, he held a badly wrapped package. As Tea examined the poorly wrapped package, she smirked. The great Seto Kaiba can create holograms of duel monsters and other amazing pieces of technology, but he can't decently wrap a package. 

"Hmm, maybe I was wrong about you. Maybe I shouldn't have wr- Oh shit." 

Tea clapped her hands over her mouth, suddenly afraid. But Kaiba made no move towards her. She could almost hear the click as the pieces of the puzzle came together. His eyes held a mixture of emotions. She thought she saw a glimmer of tears and hurt, but as quickly as it came, it was gone, and replaced by anger. 

"Happy birthday," he snarled as he threw the package at her. He turned and walked back to his car, leaving a very disturbed and worried Tea. 

"Seto," Tea began, but he ignored her. Suddenly his shoulders went rigid and he began to shake. It certainly wasn't from cold, but a cold, cold anger burned his soul. 

"Don't you _ever _call me by that name again," he snapped as he turned around, eyes blazing. He continued on his way to the limo. "Drive," he ordered, voice breaking slightly. He rolled up the dark, soundproof window, before, losing himself in his own world of painful thoughts. 

Tea stood alone, in hurt silence. She knew she had no right to be hurt, yet his words were stinging. She looked down at the messy package. Huh, it wasn't unfair to Kaiba. God knows he deserved it. After all the people he hurt, herself included, it was only justified that he feel some pain. Wondering what was in the package, she slowly unwrapped it. The guilt and regret washed over her in one big wave of hurt. 

Nestled in a ball of expensive paper, was a locket. It looked exactly like the one he broke, except it was solid gold. Also, it lacked pictures on the inside. On the outside........... was a picture of Kaiba. He was smiling. The inside, instead of the reassuring message from her friends, it had a sorrowful one from Kaiba. 

"Tea, 

I know that you hate me, 

But I just had to apologize. 

So, sorry for breaking your locket, 

Here is a new one. 

Feel free to do whatever you want with it. 

Seto Kaiba 

"I'm such an idiot," Tea said. "I can't believe he came to apologize! He came to me because HE felt BAD!! Because he hurt me! And what did I do?! I destroyed his only chance of being human!!" Tea's wild tantrum was cut short, as Yugi poked his head out the door. 

"Tea? Are you alright?" Seeing Tea's quiet tears made Yugi suspicious. He had watched the scenario, through the window, along with Joey and Tristan. Joey, had to be locked in a room- well, closet to be more exact, (no room deserved to be torn apart like that), as the urge to kill Kaiba was upsetting some of the guests. He had hurt her and was going to pay............ as soon as they let him out of the closet. Tristan bravely offered to stand against the door, to prevent any wild attempts made by the furious swordsman. 

Tea stared at the empty road. Tears glimmered, then fell splashing her shirt with wet dots. She failed to notice the short, spiky-headed boy approaching her. It wasn't until she felt a light touch on her arm, did she turn around. 

"Tea?" Yugi asked softly, unsure of the reaction he was going to get. 

"Yugi!" she cried and hugged him like a little girl holds a beloved teddy-bear. Yugi felt like his head was going to pop off, but he knew Tea needed him, so he tried to deal with his bursting lungs. His puzzle flared, and suddenly, a taller, more sturdy Yugi had appeared. 

Because of the height difference, he could hold Tea more normally. Well, he was still short, but tall enough. 

"Are you alright?" he asked, his deep voice filled with concern. 

"No," she answered, her voice hitching on suppressed sobs, "he came to apol-apologize, but I h-hurt him!" 

Wondering how that was possible, he led Tea back to the house. The guests were leaving now. Well, all but Mai and Bakura. 

"Tea doesn't look too good," Bakura had said. "I'm worried." 

Mai was too. "Yugi, is Tea alright? Why is she crying?" 

"I don't know," Yugi answered, having changed back into himself outside. "I think that it has something to do with Kaiba." 

"Kaiba?! I want to know exactly what that creep to her! Besides, we could always have Joey dance around in his tights for some entertainment!" Mai grinned wickedly, and winked at the closet that Joey was currently residing in. 

"Take that back!" Joey had snarled. That's when Joey had snapped, his self control in shreds. He bashed the door viciously and managed to knock Tristan off balance. The one second that it took Tristan to regain his balance was all Joey needed. The door burst open with a bang. Tristan was thrown forwards as Joey lunged out the door. He wanted to make Mai sorry she opened her big yap, but also to tear Kaiba limb from limb. He decided on Kaiba. Raising his "sword," he started for the door. Tristan intercepted him. 

"Lemme GO!!!" Joey yelled. 

"NO way!" 

They decided the only safe place was to lock Joey in Yugi's bedroom. Tristan was there, guarding the door- just in case Joey somehow managed to escape being rolled in a blanket and tied up, being tied to the bed and a barricade of a dresser and a desk pushed against the other side of the door. No dice. 

"LET ME GO!!!!" Joey hollered as he rolled desperately around, trying to get the blanket off him. He succeeded in banging his head against the bed post. He screamed in frustration. Suddenly, he heard Mai's voice. 

"Hey, Tights, if we let you out, then will you be a good little dog?" Mai struggled to keep the laughter out of her voice, and to keep Yugi, Tristan and Bakura's muffled laughter under control. 

"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!!" Joey yelled, remembering all too well the stinging insults Kaiba had inflicted upon his ego. "WHEN YOU'RE SLEEPING, I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!!!!" 

"Temper, temper," Mai said as she wagged a perfectly manicured finger at the door, as if lecturing a naughty child, and not a furious teenager. "No need to get all worked up." 

When Joey finally calmed down, which took over an hour, Tea told them what had happened. She wouldn't tell them what had set him off, knowing the casualties would be far too great. A hysterically laughing Joey was all she got as an answer. 

"You're upset over that? Geez, Tea, that's not that bad. You made it look like he slapped you or something!" Joey wheezed. 

Even Yugi, Mai and Bakura thought that was funny. By the time they were done laughing and exchanging presents, it was around midnight. Grandpa, having dozed off in the middle of the party, drove her home. She was prepared to get quietly ready for divorce, but oddly enough, all the lights were on. Her mother was waiting for her as well. What was going on? Then, Tea's mother spoke. 

"Your father moved out. We're getting a divorce." 


	11. Advice on Pain

Back! Here's another chapter from the long period of non-updating! 

"Your father moved out. We're getting a divorce." Those simple words echoed around in her head, blocking all her thoughts. As gently as her mother could say it, they drove through her heart like a dagger, pinning her to a wall of despair and hurt. No, not hurt. Sorrow, grief so intense it felt white hot. Tea ran to her room, not once looking back, not noticing the tears that rolled down her mothers face. 

The next morning, Tea didn't want to wake up. Last night was horrible; a reality she didn't want to face. A sick, twisted dream. She couldn't deny her very real stomach growling commands at her to feed it. She got up, showered, dressed and prepared to face the inevitable. She slowly went downstairs. 

"Good morning, Tea," her mother greeted her. 

"Morning," Tea replied with obviously fake cheerfulness. 

"Tea, are you all right?" 

"No, MOTHER, I am not all right! You rip my life to shreds, then ask if I'm ALL RIGHT?!" 

"We just wanted what was best-" her mother began, tears shining in her eyes. 

"Best for me? BEST FOR ME??!! I can't believe I'm hearing this! Dad moves out and you say this is _best for me?! _I hate you!" Tea's voice rose to a shriek as she headed for the front door. 

"Where are you going?" her mother yelled after her. 

"To find someone who cares!" Tea stormed out the door. Her mother sat down on a chair. She held her head in her hands and sighed. She would talk to Tea later. 

Tea stormed through the park. It seemed she was coming here a lot lately. She ran until she had no energy left in her body. Finally, she collapsed onto a bench and cried until she felt better. The bench looked like it had survived a seven day storm. She sat on the damp bench shivering. There was a hole inside of her. A hole that would never be filled. She had always had though her life was perfect, great friends, straight A's, good family. Now, where her dad had been was a never-ending darkness. She suddenly clenched her hands. 

And, of course, the most perfect day to get this was on her _birthday._ Of all days, her BIRTHDAY! She wanted to sit down and cry again, but feeling exhausted, she got up and slowly trudged home. No one would understand. No one in the world she could talk to. Yugi would naturally tell her that it was all right, Tristan, well, she didn't want to go there, Joey.... Wait. That was it. Joey! He suffered a divorce. He would understand! She pulled out her phone and called Joey. 

"Hello?" a man's gruff voice answered. 

"May I please speak to Joey?" Tea asked politely. 

"What are you, his girlfriend?" Mr Wheeler prodded. 

"No, I'm his-" Tea was rudely cut off. 

"Stay away from my boy! I don't want a slut like you taking him away! God, you're probably just like that bitch I married!" Then a loud crash and the dial tone. Tea numbly hung up herself. Poor Joey. No wonder no one could hang out at his place when his dad was home. Suddenly an all to familiar laugh rang through the air. Guess who's? 

She ran to where it came from. Joey was in the field, running away from a red-hued, brown haired girl. She was giggling and trying to grab him. 

"Oh perfect," Tea thought darkly, "the one time I need Joey is the one time he decides to get a girlfriend." She snorted and turned her back to the scene. 

"Hmm? Tea?" Joey questioned. 

Tea turned around. "Sorry to disturb you," she smiled, putting on a false face. Better to hide your emotions than to tell everyone, Tea thought. This was the one time Tea couldn't afford anyone to find out. Well, except for the boy with shaggy blond hair with the pretty girl hanging on his shoulder. 

Joey jogged up to her in reply. The girl followed. "Tea, this is my sis, Serenity. Sis, this is my best friend, Tea." 

"I thought Tristan was," Serenity said sweetly. 

"Don't tell him that then. He doesn't have to know everything." 

"Like how you wet the bed until you were thirteen?" Serenity's eyes held a mischievous sparkle. 

"Sis...." Joey muttered, turning red. 

"Just filling Tea in on a few things. Like how he-" 

Serenity was cut off as Joey clamped his hand over her mouth. Serenity, in turn, winked at Tea. 

"So, this is Serenity, the girl Joey fought for at the Duellist Kingdom," Tea thought. No wonder he wanted to win so badly. Tea decided that she liked her. Too bad she couldn't return her smile. 

When Joey noticed that Tea failed to laugh at his embarrassing secrets, he knew something was wrong. "Tea? Everything all right?" he asked, unable to keep the concern out of his voice. 

"I need to talk to you," Tea barely managed to choke out. 

"I-I'm not to good at these things," Joey stuttered. "Why don't I call Yu-" 

"NO! Don't tell ANYONE!!" Tea snapped. 

"Gi," Joey finished, thoroughly cowed. "What could be so important?" he thought. Maybe Tea.... No! It couldn't be. Tea wasn't going to ask him out, was she? 

"Why are you telling me? Yugi understands things a lot better." "Unless it's what I think it is," he added under his breath. 

"Not this." Tea took a deep, shuddering breath. 

"Here it comes," Joey thought. 

"My parents divorced." 

Joey's mind stuttered to a halt. He definitely did not expect to get THAT as an answer. 

"I'll just take a walk in the park," Serenity excused herself. 

"They what?! I- We knew they were fightin' and all but WHY?! WHEN?!" Joey demanded. 

"Last night," Tea replied flatly, her voice void of all emotion. 

"No! Oh, Tea! Are you going to be okay?" he asked, his voice coming out in frantic sentences. 

"I was hoping you could help me. Seeing as your parents...." Tea trailed off awkwardly. 

"It's all right. It was so long ago. Well, I'll tell ya all I know!" Joey offered her his best smile. Goofy as it was, Tea couldn't help but return it. So, Joey and Tea talked as Serenity walked around enjoying her new vision, a gift from a loving, kind-hearted older brother. 

  
Joey walked Tea home around five. "Are you gonna be okay?" he asked her. 

"Yeah..... Hey! Where's Serenity?" Tea exclaimed. 

"!!!! Holy- I forgot her! Dammit! I gotta go! Call if ya need help!" he hollered as he raced down the street. He barely missed being nailed as a car door opened. 

"Same old Joey," Tea thought as she watched him fly down the street, jacket streaming out behind him. "Some things will never change." She went to her room and was asleep before she hit the bed. 


	12. Sun, Sand and Sandcastles

Hey! It seems I have disappeared from the world of fan fiction...... Don't worry! I have returned from the world of unfinished stories! ^_^ It's been a crazy year, with so many projects, and the final exams.... Well, here's another chapter! Hope you enjoy it! By the way, I don't know that much about jellyfish so the whole event here is mostly supposedly humorous fiction. ;-) 

Tea woke the next morning, feeling ready to face anything. She heard a strange ringing in her ears. Groaning, she stuffed the pillow over her head and turned over. When the ringing persisted, she realized it was the phone. 

"What the hell do you want?!" she snarled angrily into the phone. After all, they deserved it, whoever they were. They _did _wake her up. 

"Tea? It's Yugi. Are you all right?" 

"Yugi?" Her sleepy mind was unable to focus properly on the seemingly familiar name. Then, like a slap in the face, it hit her. "Sorry," she apologized, "I just woke up. Do you know what time it is?" She shook her head violently, clearing the sleep from her mind. 

"Just woke- Tea, it's 12:45." Yugi sounded a bit worried. She was becoming more like Joey every day... 

"Hehe, just tired. So, you called because......" she trailed off. 

"We wanted to know if you wanted to come to the beach." Some voices in the background, then scuffling sounds. To her, it sounded like someone tried to grab the phone. Suddenly, Yugi's voice again. 

"Joey! That's just sick and totally perverted!" 

Giggling, Tea asked, "What is it?" 

Yugi sighed, totally exasperated. She could still hear Joey's strange giggling in the background. "He asked if we were going to a nude beach and if you were gonna be wearing the dress code." 

"Slap him for me Yugi," Tea replied coolly into the phone. She heard Yugi yell, "Tristan! Slap him for me, will ya?" A loud smack followed by crashing and groaning rang loudly in the background. 

"Tea, come here after you're packed up and whatever! Ow! Joey! That hurt! Gotta go!" 

Tea sighed. Well, gotta get packing. Half an hour later, they were standing on the beach. No, it was not a nude beach, much to Joey's obvious disappointment. Any ways, they found a nice spot close to the water, just perfect for tanning. So, Tea sat on the blanket and worked on her tan, while Joey and Tristan were competing to see who could build the biggest sand castle. So far, Tristan had a nicely sculpted, structure. Joey's was a lump of sand with a few shells and sticks stuck into it. 

"You really suck Joey," Tristan commented. 

"Shut up! You have a bucket and a shovel!" he retorted. 

"No, you idiot. _You _have the bucket and the shovel. _I _have a hoe and a lousy yoghurt cup!" Tristan yelled. 

"Since when did you get a ho?" Joey asked curiously. "Is Mai working for free now?" 

"A RAKE you idiot! I'm not a perverted moron!" Tristan snapped. "And I win! YOU LOSE, loser!" Not surprisingly, Tristan's sculpture far exceeded Joey's pathetic mound of sand. 

Suddenly Tristan's sculpture was reduced to an even sadder mound of sand as a boys feet trampled through it. A boy with long black hair...... 

"Mokuba!" Tristan and Joey yelled in delight. 

"Huh?" Mokuba looked quizzically at the two. Recognition dawned on his face. "Joey! Tristan! Uh, where's Yugi?" 

"In the water," Tea answered. 

"Hi Tea!" came the enthusiastic greeting. Obviously, the kid was hyper on sugar. 

"Help me!" Yugi screamed as a big wave crashed over his short, spiky head. 

"Gotcha dude," Tristan yelled as he snatched his friend out of the water. 

"Mokuba!" Yugi said. "How's it going?" 

"Mokuba," a perfectly composed, all-to-familiar voice said behind them. Seto Kaiba stood behind them, decked out in his usual attire; trench coat, high collar shirt and long pants. 

"Uh, don't you ever get hot?" Joey asked. 

"Don't you have a brain?" Kaiba sneered. 

"Seto-" Mokuba began, in a pleading voice. 

"Fine. Let's go back to our spot." Kaiba walked a few steps. "Coming?" he asked his brother. Mokuba was nowhere to be found. Kaiba just raised an eyebrow and stalked off. He would have looked more dramatic if he hadn't been walking so close to the water line and a big wave hadn't been coming in.... 

The end result was a completely drenched Seto Kaiba. His hair hung limply in his eyes and his trench coat dripped water. Glaring at anyone who even dared to make a sound, he stomped off, leaving a rather wet trail behind him. 

Tea failed to notice that another person had just joined them. "Hi Tea," Mokuba said cheerfully. 

"Where did you come from?" Tea asked. "And where did you get that blanket? And cooler? And umbrella..." She fell silent. 

"I moved them. I wanna sit with you guys, 'cause Seto just sits around in his trench coat and it makes me hot just looking at him. Besides, wanna have a sandcastle contest?" 

"Oh, it's a little late for that," Tristan commented dryly. Joey just grinned. 

"Won't-" Yugi was rudely interrupted. 

"MOKUBA!!!" Kaiba's cry reached their ears. 

"Uh oh... Oh well. Pop, anyone?" Mokuba held out some cans. 

"Sure! Got any Coke?" Joey asked hopefully. Mokuba tossed him the can. 

After everyone had their drinks, he had just enough time to prop up the umbrella before Kaiba appeared, his face flushed from anger and heat. 

"I'm- gasp- going to- huff- get you!" Kaiba gasped out. 

"Long walk their Kaiba?" Joey asked innocently. 

"Shut up you little puppy dog!" Kaiba gasped out. 

"Please, Seto?" Mokuba asked, putting on his best begging face. 

"No," came the reply, cool as ever. 

"Did any big waves hit you, Kaiba, baby?" Tristan teased, mimicking somebody's mother. He and Joey collapsed on each other, laughing. 

"That's it! Let's GO!" Kaiba snarled. 

"I'm not moving again," Mokuba pouted. 

"Too bad, kid. Let's go!" Kaiba pulled on Mokuba's arm. Instinctive reactions kicked in and Mokuba sank his teeth into Kaiba's hand without a second thought. With a howl of pain, Kaiba snatched his arms and began to pull. The pathetic game of tug-a-war went on for quite some time before a feebly pulling Kaiba gave up and sat in the corner farthest away from them with his best scowl plastered on his face. So what if his clothes and shoes got sand in them? It was worth staying away from the happy freaks out there. While everyone else had fun in the sun, Kaiba sat in the shade and sulked. When he thought Tea wasn't looking, he kept shooting her hate filled glares. 

"Hey Tea," Joey greeted her as he dried himself off. "I just beat Tristan in a race. I think a jellyfish stung me and a fish bit my toe..... But other than that, I showed him that I can kick his butt in swimming!" he stated proudly. 

Tea took one look at Joey and burst out laughing. 

"What? What?!" Joey asked frantically. 

"There's..... a..... jellyfish stuck in your hair!" Tea managed to choke out. 

"Oh my god! Get it out! Get it out! Get it OUT!!!" Joey screamed as he ran around in a circle, whipping his head around in frantic circles in a desperate attempt to dislodge the offensive aquatic creature. 

Kaiba couldn't help it. This was hilarious! That idiot puppy dog actually thought that whipping his head around would get a jelly fish off? Ha! He was even stupider than he thought! He tried to compress it, but it slipped out. 

Joey stopped and stared at a hysterical Kaiba. He was rolling in the sand, laughing his snobby head off. Then, he stared at Tea, who was smacking the ground and laughing just as hard into the blanket. 

"GET IT OUT!!!!!!" he screamed. Yugi and Tristan came running up......... and burst out laughing. 

And so, a fuming Joey was stuck standing in the middle of a group of hysterical teens. "Goddammit!! This isn't funny!! What the hell's the matter with you people?!!!" He went over to pound some sense into that jackass Kaiba- who does he think he is, laughing at him like that? The guy deserved at least a black eye. 

Joey knelt down and was about to throw sand in Kaiba's streaming eyes, but now his hair, (and jellyfish) were level with Kaiba's arms. Kaiba rolled over and reached out for something to support him so he could get up...... and let out a surprise and pain filled scream. For you see, Kaiba had grabbed the jellyfish. Battered, but very much alive, it had stung Kaiba's hand. Ouch. 

Tea snapped out of her laughter fit first. She spotted Joey, bent over a Kaiba that was rolling on the ground for a very different reason. Wondering who had screamed, Tea got up and went to Kaiba. His shoulders were quivering uncontrollably, so she thought that he was still laughing. But Joey's concerned babbling told her otherwise. When Kaiba faced her, she could see why. 

His hand had jellyfish stingers attached to them. Not to mention the fact that it was red and inflamed. Tears streamed down Kaiba's face, and his teeth were gritted together. He shook with pain and an obvious effort not to scream again. He still had his pride, however shattered that may be. Tea ran to where the oblivious Yugi and Tristan were. When they ignored her, she kicked Tristan sharply in the side. Yugi got a bucket full of sand dumped on his head. 

"Call an ambulance!" Yugi yelled. Tristan took off like an arrow from a bow. 

"Joey! Find a lifeguard! See what they know and bring him here!" Joey nodded and ran around the crowded beach, jellyfish hanging onto his head in an insane grip. No one else seemed to notice the small group of people huddled around the figure that was solely dressed in a long blue trench coat. 

Kaiba struggled to remain conscious. His hand hurt, and not like a dull ache. Deep pulsing pain right down to his very core emitted from those trailing tentacles. He could feel the poison beginning to take effect. He wanted to scream and scream until his throat was shredded and raw and he passed out. But Joey, that little puppy dog was here and there was NO way that would happen. At least, not while in public...... 

"Big brother?" a child's voice echoed crazily around in his mind, the source unknown. Mokuba shook Kaiba, his head lolling from side to side like a broken doll's. Kaiba managed to quickly glimpse Mokuba's worried face before his tired and venom-filled mind flicked the world off. 

"Don't worry Mokuba. He's still alive. Look," Tea reassured him. "Put your hand on his chest if you don't believe me. He's still breathing." 

"Um, Tea? Is he supposed to be still?" Mokuba's naive child's voice added to the growing alarm in her. 

"What do you mean "still?" Tea asked, slightly confused. 

"Well, aren't people supposed to breathe?" 

"!??!! Oh my GOD!!" Tea placed a hand on Kaiba's chest. He was right, Kaiba wasn't breathing. He had apparently gone into shock, at least, that was what Tea hoped had happened. 

"Mokuba, move out of the way!" Yugi gently guided a very worried and frightened Mokuba away from Kaiba's still form. 

"Crap, crap, crap!" Tea thought. Only one option left; CPR. The fact that Kaiba might die was not what she was worried about. Thinking "Why me?" she placed Kaiba on his back, opened his airway and began. 

"One! Two! Three!" she counted as she pushed on his chest. 

"One! Two! BREATHE!!" 

She continued, thinking nasty things she would do to Kaiba, as soon as he regained conciousness. "Don't think like that," Tea thought savagely. 

"One! Two! BREATHE YOU GODDAMN INGRATE!!!" she screamed as she continued to push feverishly on his chest. 

A lifeguard and ambulance arrived on the scene. They immediately put Kaiba on the stretcher and Joey in a second ambulance. Isn't it funny what one little jellyfish can do? 

Tristan drove himself and Mokuba to the hospital. Yugi went with Joey and Tea.... The weird thing that Tea would never understand was that the paramedics thought that Tea was Kaiba's sister. She had brown hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a locket with a picture of him in it. Kaiba's locket of Mokuba was visible as it had slipped out from under his shirt. Mokuba was completely ignored as Tea when she tried to tell them that she had absolutely no relation to Kaiba and that she would rather kill herself. None of them would believe that Mokuba was Kaiba's only real relative. 

Also, it appeared that the jellyfish that had an insane liking for Joey's head was actually quite poisonous and would need to be removed immediately. Yugi just said that he was Joey's kid brother and that he was into dyeing his hair. 

Kaiba awoke to a stinging pain in his left arm. An IV was lodged quite firmly into the big vein in his wrist. Where was he anywise? Why wasn't he at the beach? He frowned and sat up. He noticed that his right hand was also thickly bandaged. 

"You're quite lucky," a voice said that made Kaiba jump. It was a nurse. "Good thing your sister knew how to perform CPR or you would have died." 

"Sister?" Kaiba thought. "I don't have a- NO!" He stopped as a sudden image came to mind. Brown hair, blue eyes, the only person on that beach that could possibly be mistaken for a relative was..... Tea! 

"What happened?" he asked the nurse, feeling quite sick. 

"It seems that a jellyfish stung you. At first, no one knew how the jellyfish managed to sting you as you were fully clothed and they live in the water. But then, you were soaked, so why you were in the water ruining that lovely trench coat is besides me," the nurse explained. 

"I didn't go in the water," he said slowly. So how did he get wet? Distant memories of stalking off the beach, reason unknown still, and getting hit with a huge wave. That explained it. But how did the jellyfish get so far upland? Upland? A sudden image of Joey with a jellyfish in his hair answered that. 

"I'll kill him," he growled. 

"Who?" a puzzled glance was shot his way as the nurse continued on her routine. 

"Did another person come here with jellyfish injuries?" Kaiba asked a now thoroughly confused nurse. 

"Yes. Now that you mention it, another person did come here with jellyfish, uh, problems." Suddenly, she smothered a giggle. "A quite hilarious case actually. A young man had a very poisonous jellyfish stuck in his _hair._" 

"Joey. Yeah, that's who I'm gonna kill," Kaiba snarled. 

There was a knock on the door, interrupting Kaiba's dark thoughts. "It appears you have a visitor," the nurse commented. 

"Mokuba!" Kaiba exclaimed. 

"Oh, Seto! I've been so worried. You stopped breathing and Tea did CPR and you breathed and an ambulance came but the lifeguard almost made Tea stop so he could do it 'cause he wanted to look like a hero and an old woman hit him and told him to stop being so stupid 'cause it was obvious she knew what she was doing-" Mokuba left off, trying to talk and breathe at the same time. His breathing came in short gasps. 

"Calm down kid," Kaiba smiled and ruffled his hair. 

"Seto, can you call your parents?" the nurse asked. "We've tried calling home and we can't reach them. They just need to sign a few forms, nothing serious and I'm sure that they want to know that you've been stung." 

Seeing the young man wince whenever she mentioned his parents, she asked, "What's wrong? Are you fighting with them? They certainly won't blame you for your injury, if that's what you're worried about." 

"No, it's nothing like that. There's no one to fight with...." Kaiba said softly to himself. Looking up, he stated flatly, "No. It's just that my parents are dead, so of course you can't reach them." 

A look of shock crossed the nurses face, followed by a quick flash of sympathy. So fast, he almost missed it, but years of dealing with people who had the same look on their faces when they heard the truth gave him sharp eyes with an attention for detail. "Oh, well, who looks after you?" 

"Myself and a baby-sitter for Mokuba when I'm in the meetings." 

"Meetings?" The confused look on the nurses face was back in place. 

"Well, you can't run a company without meetings," Kaiba was going to snarl the words, but changed it at the last second to a softer tone when he realized that the nurse wasn't poking fun at him. No, she actually cared. Seeing the confused expression on her face, he added rather guiltily, "I own and am president of Kaiba Corp." 

"Oh." The confusion melted off the nurses face as she continued to work, leaving Kaiba to continue to chat with Mokuba. 

On the other end of the hall, Tea, Tristan and Yugi were visiting Joey. They walked in , took one look at Joey, and burst out laughing. His hair had to be cut to get the evil fish out. Apparently, a stupid haircut was the least of the doctors worries. So now, Joey modelled the Seto Kaiba hairstyle, just shorter in the back. Joey screamed, pretended to faint and started to laugh. Soon, the halls rang with laughter and happy chatter. 

"Can I call you Seto?" Tea asked, giggles interrupting her speech. 

"NO!! What a weird and retarded name," Joey laughed. 

"How about Joey Kaiba? You could be his blond brother!" Tristan was laughing so hard he could barely speak. 

"Yeah! The brains had to go to one of them! Guess which one's hair colour is proof of that?" Tea added. 

"Shut up! That stupid fish would never have been on my head if you didn't want to have your stupid race!" Joey retorted. 

"Oh, so now it's all the fish's fault? By the way, YOU LOST! AGAIN! You suck," Tristan laughed. 

"DID NOT!" Joey screamed in denial. 

"Did too!" 

"Come on, children," Yugi said, seeing that this juvenile argument was going no where fast. "Let's leave Joto alone." 

"Joto?" Tea asked. 

"Yeah. Seto plus Joey equals the one and only Joto!" Yugi replied. 

"Not funny!" Joey shot back. The teens continued to laugh and make fun of Joey. 

"I'm wearing a hat for a LONG time....." Joey thought darkly. 


	13. A Surprising Entry

I'm actually holding true to my promise! ^_^ Here's another chapter. Just as a warning, this chapter has a new article in the advice column. Not saying who gets the good advice though. ;-) 

Seto Kaiba opened his eyes. It took him a while to realize where he was, but when he did, he wished he was still at the beach. 

"Awake again?" a nurse asked. 

"What time is it?" he croaked, ignoring the pain in his head and hand. 

"Around 6:00 p.m.. How ya feeling?" she replied cheerfully. 

"......" Kaiba chose to remain silent and not answer the question with an obvious answer. He pulled out the IV in his arm and sat up. 

"Where's Mokuba?" he asked the nurse. 

"The adorable little boy with long black hair? Oh, he's in a room down the hall, visiting another patient." 

Kaiba studied the nurse. She wasn't the same one as before, but maybe, just maybe she might be as kind and not ask him too much about himself. That would be for the best. Maybe he could go home and back to work. If she didn't release him willingly, the small matter of money could always change her mind..... 

"Where are you going?" she asked. 

"To "visit" the other patient." More like strangle him. This was all his fault. 

"Come back!" she cried when he began to unsteadily wobble his way through the door and down the hall. What was he WEARING anyways? Where was his clothes and who put him in this dress? Oh well, which room? A loud shriek came from the one farthest away followed by laughter. It just figures that the room farthest away would be his destination. Kaiba slowly wobbled his way down the hall. 

"You know, I think I feel kinda bad about writing that thing about Kaiba...." Tea said. 

"What?! _You _wrote that column?!" Joey yelled a bit too loudly. 

"Shut up Joey and yes I did." That was the half truth anyways. The other part they didn't need to know about. 

"But I don't want to hurt any more people like that. I mean, look at Kaiba. He came to apologize and now he...." Tea trailed off. 

"Don't sweat it. Kaiba will NEVER change. He's a cold-hearted jerk who lives alone. What do you expect?" Joey said encouragingly. 

"I guess. Um, you guys? I need to tell you something," Tea said seriously. 

"You can tell us," Yugi said with a small, encouraging smile directed at Tea. 

Tea took a deep breath. No one would force her to say it. It was up to her. She could always just pretend that she had nothing to say. All she had to do was close her mouth..... 

Tea took another deep breath and said, "My parents divorced." She began to cry. 

"Oh Tea! When? Are you alright?" Tristan said. 

"Tea....." Yugi said softly. They all hugged her. 

"Yesterday," she said in a small voice. 

"Tea, don't- HEY! What the hell do _you _want?!" Joey suddenly snapped, startling Tea who was still locked in their arms. 

"What? Surprised?" Kaiba sneered. 

"Get lost Kaiba," Tristan snarled. 

"On the contrary, I think I'll stay. Nice hair, Wheeler," he smirked. 

"You have the same haircut," Joey said calmly. 

Kaiba seemed at a loss for words. Then he remembered why he wobbled his way down the hall to this room full of people he hated. "Where's Mokuba?" he snapped. 

"He was here, but even YOU can clearly see that he's gone now," Tea said, an occasional tear escaping her shining eyes. 

"Oh. Well what happened here? Your boyfriend almost die? Or did you realize that no one gives a damn about your speeches?" 

"Not that it's any of your business Kaiba, but-" Tristan was cut off. He stared at the figure in the door frame. 

"Hey, Kaiba finally got a new outfit. Wait a minute. It's a DRESS!" Everyone turned to stare at him, then burst out laughing. 

"Where's your trench coat Kaiba boy?" Joey said in an imitation of Pegasus. They laughed harder. 

"SHUT UP! I don't care! At least I don't burst out crying at every goddamn little thing!" Kaiba snarled, directing the insult at Tea. 

"Her parents divorced Kaiba!" Yugi shouted. "Not that you would know! You don't even HAVE parents! They probably would rather be _dead _than spend time with the cold-hearted jackass you are!" 

Kaiba stared at the little, angry boy. How DARE he insult his parents?! How dare he?! Wait, Tea's parents divorced? Well good! Now the arrogant bitch would feel some of the pain he felt, thought not enough. No, not nearly enough. Yet a small part of him felt sick. He wanted to comfort her but that would mean siding with the enemy. Tea? An enemy? What was going on? HE felt a growing pressure in the back of his brain, then, it was dark. 

"Seto!" Mokuba cried as his older brother went crashing to the floor. 

"When did you get here?" Joey asked. 

"I just went to get a snack," he replied. "What's wrong with Seto?" 

"Still a bit tipsy," Tea commented. 

"Oh. Sorry about your parents Tea," Mokuba said sympathetically. 

"Wish Seto said something like that," Tea sniffed. 

"You know Tea," Mokuba looked up from his unconscious brother. "Seto cares. He cares about a lot of things. But he isn't the best at showing it. Yugi, he's grateful to you for saving him. Twice. But also to Joey, Mai, Tea and Tristan. He's glad you didn't turn your backs on him. He just didn't want you to know..." 

"You know, when you put it that way, Kaiba doesn't seem too bad," Joey said. "Well, let's move him to the bed." Joey got out and threw Kaiba onto his bed. Oddly enough, Joey was dressed in his own clothes. They noticed a discarded hospital gown in the corner, shoved halfway under his bed. Kaiba was still in his gown. 

"Great. My brother's a cross-dresser," Mokuba muttered. 

Joey let out a snort of laughter and accidentally cracked Kaiba's head on the wall. Kaiba groaned and turned over. His eyes opened and he stared at the group of people. Realizing what he was wearing, he yanked the covers over himself. He cowered under the covers, glaring at everyone. They just stared back. 

"Hi Seto," Mokuba said brightly. 

"What are you doing here?" he asked groggily. 

"Actually, what are YOU doing HERE?" Joey said loudly, not bothering to hide the scorn in his voice. 

"What do you mean?" Kaiba croaked. 

"Whoa, that poison must have really screwed up your brain," Tristan commented. 

"Shut up," Kaiba said but with no real force. 

"Guys? Maybe we should leave Kaiba alone," Tea whispered. 

"Fine, we'll lay off, but only because you're physically disabled. Mental disability doesn't count!" Joey laughed. 

Kaiba groaned and tried to sit up to grab Joey. His efforts went to a lost cause. 

"Mr Kaiba?" a nurse asked, cautiously poking her head into the room. 

"That's the loser," Joey informed her as he pointed to Kaiba. 

"Come on. Time to go back to your room," the nurse said. Placing Kaiba in a nearby wheelchair, she wheeled him back into bed. But, not before she gave Joey a piece of her mind and medical advice that was meant to be followed and not questioned. 

"Mr Wheeler, back into the gown and back into bed!" 

"I'm-" 

"NO! You are NOT fine! Now, GET BACK IN BED!!!" 

"Okay, okay," Joey squeaked meekly, thoroughly cowed. He climbed back into the bed. "Hey, uh, wanna wash the covers, 'cause Kaiba was in it?" he asked. 

"No, and yo will be out of here anywhere from tonight to tomorrow." 

"Damn," Joey muttered. "I was hoping for an excuse to get out of school for a week." This comment produced a laugh from everyone, even Seto Kaiba who was halfway out the door. Of course, he was laughing mostly _at _Joey, not at his creative ways to get out of school. 

The next day, Tea met Yugi and Tristan infront of the school. 

"Where's Joey?" she asked. 

"Over there," Tristan lazily pointed to a bush. Tea stared blankly for a few seconds, but she heard that odd noises were coming from it. 

"Joey, get out of the bush!" Yugi laughed. 

"No! NO ONE is going to see me with this stupid, weird, incredibly retarded haircut!" the bush snarled stubbornly. 

"Joey," Tea pleaded. 

"No," it/he replied. 

"Fine, have it your way." While saying this, Tristan passed an exaggerated wink to Tea and Yugi. Grinning, the trio crept up on the unsuspecting blond hiding in his bush. 

"There is absolutely- HEY!" 

Tristan seized Joey's legs, Joey's arms were held by Yugi and Tea. 

"Lemme go, lemme go, lemme go!" Joey struggled uselessly; they had him. 

"Alright, bush man. No more hiding," Tea lectured. "Hey. Guys? I think we're kinda late....." Noticing they were alone, they ran inside and were able to sneak into their seats. Well, not quite... 

"Where were you?" a voice that sounded like snapping icicles demanded behind them. They guilty group froze. Their teacher eyed them with a stern gaze. "Seeing as they're is no reasonable explanation as to why you're all late, all of you will receive a half-hour detention. Miss Gardener, you will serve your usual detention instead." Seeing they were dismissed, they went back to their seats. Unfortunately, the teacher was not quite finished with Joey yet. 

"Mr Wheeler! Take off that ridiculous hat!" 

Joey replied, "What if I don't wanna?" The glare he received could have frozen the ocean. 

"Are you arguing with me?" 

"No sir," Joey replied quickly. Sheepishly, he pulled off his hat, which was really more like a purple balaclava. Ignoring the stares and giggles he received from his classmates, he glared at the teacher's back like it was all his fault. No one noticed that one desk was empty. That one student was absent. 

What seemed like days later, the lunch bell finally rang, signalling the end of class. Joey leapt up from his desk, barely after the teacher stopped talking. He jammed the purple hat over his head, stuffed his books into his bag and ran out the door with Yugi, Tea and Tristan following him. 

"Guys, I've gotta go to the bathroom so I'll meet up with you at the table," Tea said. 

"Okay, see you there," Yugi called as he and Tristan waded through the crowded cafeteria. 

They met at the usual table, with Joey waving around the newspaper. "Let's see what you wrote today, Tea!" he crowed. 

"Quiet Joey! Not so loud. She doesn't want people to know," Yugi hissed. 

"Oh. Right...." Joey grinned sheepishly. "Anyways, here it goes." 

After about five minutes of silence, Tristan finally asked, "Well? What's going on? Aren't you going to read the paper?" 

"Now that you mention it, it's not that interesting anyways! What do you have for lunch?" Joey said quickly, obviously hiding something. 

"Just read the damn paper!" Tristan hissed. 

Joey gulped and read, 

"Is it just me or is there something really wrong with Tea Gardener? Not only does she look like a complete freak with that retarded haircut, she wears the ugliest clothes in the world. Tramps and bums couldn't dress worse than her and they find their clothes in a dumpster. Not to mention the fact that she makes totally sickening speeches about friendship and caring. If she even had friends in the first place. Guess what Tea. My advice to you is to shove those friendship speeches right back up your butt and stop stealing clothes off dead people. The funeral home wants them back. Oh, and stop stalking Seto Kaiba. He may be a complete jerk, but he's too good for you." 

Joey stopped reading and looked up. Three shocked faces stared back at him. Tea had apparently joined them after leaving the bathroom. 

"Tea," Yugi said weakly. 

"Why would you write something like this about yourself?" Joey asked, completely confused. 

"I didn't," she wailed. 

"Well, then who did? I thought _you _were writing the column!" Tristan said. 

"I only wrote that article about Kaiba! I didn't write any of the other ones! I swear!" Tea was on the verge of crying. 

"It's okay Tea, we believe you," Yugi said softly. 

"Yeah, don't worry about it. We'll find out who writes this thing and kill them!" Joey laughed insanely, making the group seated around the table turn and stare at him. 

"Stop staring at me!" Joey snapped at Tristan. 

"I wasn't," Tristan retorted. 

"Oh yes you were!" Joey shot back. 

"Was not!" Tristan said calmly. 

"Was too!" 

"Guys! Come on, not now! Let's just eat, okay?" Yugi, ever the peace keeper ended a potential all out free-for-all brawl before it began. By now, he and Tea were familiar with the warning signs. 

Obeying their newly elected leader, the rest of the group ate calmly, but calm was far from the mood at the table. 

Lunch was over and the group was back in class. Naturally, the remaining hours passed by uneventfully and in complete boredom. Slowly, the time passed by, but a surprise was in the end for the foursome. 

"Will anyone bring Seto his work and catch him up with what he has missed?" 

Seeing as no one raised their hand, the teacher decided to pick someone. "Miss Gardener? Can you bring him his work?" Tea shrunk into her seat as far as possible. 

"Fine," she mumbled. Great. 

"Class dismissed," the teacher announced as the bell rang, leaving a bunch of thoroughly bored teenagers to enjoy their remaining hours of the day. 

"Miss Gardener, Mr Wheeler, Mr Moto and Mr Taylor, remember, you still have half-an-hour. Miss Gardener, you have one hour." Joey let out an audible sigh as he was caught trying to sidle out the door. The guilty group sank into their seats. 

"Well, this sucks," Joey muttered. 

"Shut up Joey!" Tea hissed. 

"Quiet!" came a stern order from the front of the room. 

So they sat in miserable silence for the rest of the day as they served out their detention. Tea couldn't help but miss the times when she could actually go HOME after class, but eh, what are ya gonna do? 

When half-an-hour was up, Yugi, Tristan and Joey took their leave. Actually, it was more like they were thrown out because they tried to wait for Tea. Naturally, their teacher's temper had snapped and they soon found themselves out the door. 

Tea, on the other hand, was stuck waiting for another half hour to pass by. Yugi left a note saying that they would wait for her in the school library. At least she didn't have to spend another day with Kaiba. 

Speaking of Kaiba, Tea was finally released. Trying to sneak out the door in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid giving Kaiba his homework, she was caught and reminded, sternly, by an annoyed teacher. 

"Give Mr Kaiba his homework, Miss Gardener. I don't want to hear an excuse that it somehow managed to slip your mind," he had told her. 

"Um," her brain desperately searched for a way out. No dice. "I don't know where she lives," she argued weakly. 

"Here's his address." 

"Um, er..... I don't know if HE knows I'm coming." 

"Well then, use the telephone. That's what they're there for, are they not?" came the curt reply. 

"I-" she began. 

"Let me guess. You don't know his phone number." 

Tea nodded, then mentally smacked herself. "Idiot," she thought. 

The teacher sighed. "Go to the office and ask the secretary. I don't know if you're allowed to phone from here though." Handing her a thick stack of paper, he excused her from the room. 

"Great..." she thought. "I get to bring Mr Jerkhead his homework. Geez, I didn't know we did so much in class." She plodded dutifully into the library. 

"There you are," Joey sighed loudly. 

"Shhhh!" someone shushed him. 

"He he he...." Joey laughed weakly. 

"Anyways, I have to call Kaiba," Tea said sadly. 

"Do you want us to come?" Yugi asked quietly, lest the anonymous annoyed reader strike again. 

"If you want...." Tea trailed off. 

"GREAT! I wanna-" Joey yelled. 

"SHHHHH!!!" the voice said again. 

"Who is _doing _that?!" Joey snarled. 

"Shhhh!" the voice persisted. 

"Why don't you?!" Speaking loudly, Joey followed the sound of the mysterious voice until it reached the science-fiction section. Bakura was sitting on the floor, a book in his lap and appeared to be shushing someone. Any guesses who? 

"Bakura?!" Joey exclaimed loudly. 

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SHUT UP!!!!" the normally soft-spoken, silver haired boy yelled. 

"Calm down there, Bakura," Joey said sarcastically. 

"What's wrong with you?!" he shrieked. "You keep talking so damn LOUD! What's WRONG with you!?" 

"Sorry Bakura," Tea said. 

"Yeah. Joey's just a huge idiot. The whole concept of "quiet" in a library is foreign to him. There's nothing you can do." Tristan shook his head sadly. 

"Heeeyyy......" Joey started. 

"What happened to you?" Bakura finally choked out. He was shaking with suppressed laughter. 

"There, there. No need to cry. We all know Joey's new haircut is scary, but there's nothing to cry about," Tristan stated matter-of-factly. 

Bakura and the rest of the group lost it. They just stood there, laughing, leaving Joto- I mean, Joey, to steam and glare. 

"Grrrr. KNOCK IT OFF!!!" Joey yelled. 

"SHHHHHHH!!!!!!" a very loud, very violent "shhh" stopped the hysterical teens. 

"Let's get outta this creepy place," Tristan whispered. 

"Yeah," Yugi said in wholehearted agreement. 

"Coming, Bakura?" Tea asked. 

"Okay, why not? Joey has already ruined my reading anyways, with his incredibly loud mouth." Bakura said calmly as he rose and put the book away. Apparently Joey didn't hear him. 

The group of friends walked out of the library, leaving a thoroughly cowed Joey to stand stupidly for a few minutes, wonder where everyone is, wonder how he got into the library in the first place, then finally run out the door, screaming for Yugi to wait up. 

"Um, may I please have Seto Kaiba's phone number?" Tea asked nervously. 

"Why?" the secretary didn't even bother to look up. 

"I have to call him about homework," Tea said. 

"Look in the student address book," she said, still not looking up from her work. 

Grumbling, Tea opened the big book and flipped through the pages. Reading through the K's, she noticed that his name wasn't there. So she asked about it. Her answer was that since Kaiba Corp supplied the computers, he was in the front of the book. She grudgingly flipped to the first page and wrote down the number. 

"Ready?" Bakura asked. 

"Yeah, yeah," Tea said hurriedly. They were about to leave when the secretary asked them to bring this package to "Mr Kaiba." Not knowing what else to do, she accepted and was stuck with a heavy box. So, she gave it to, of all people, Yugi. Upon taking the ominous parcel, he promptly fell over backwards, the box on his chest. Noticing what just happened, Joey snatched the box and continued along, leaving Yugi to try and figure out what just happened. 

"Here, you can use my cell phone," Bakura offered, once they were outside. 

"Thanks," Tea said gratefully. She dialled the number from the book and waited. After five rings, someone picked up. Or at least, she thought they did. 

"You have reached Seto Kaiba and Mokuba Kaiba," Kaiba's voice came on the answering machine. "I'm sure that for whatever reason you are calling me is not as important as my meetings, so you can just-" 

"Seto! Be nice! You can tell people to go to-" 

"Quiet Mokuba! Great, look at what the machine recorded. Why can't you just stay in one place?! Oh-" BEEP!! The beep sounded so Tea hung up. She couldn't help but think that the message was quite humorous and wonder what obscenity had been beeped out by the machine. 

"So?" was the question Tea was confronted with. 

"Answering machine," Tea replied calmly. 

"Oh, too bad," Joey said sarcastically. 

"Guess Kaiba ain't getting his homework," Tristan grinned. 

"Aw, poor little Kaiba!" Joey mocked. 

"Yeah, well, I might as well find out if he's alright," Tea said regretfully. She dialled Kaiba's number again and left a message to Mokuba. A few minutes later, Bakura's cell phone began to ring. 

"That's odd," he said as he stared at the caller ID screen. "I don't know who this is. It's not identified at all." Truth be told, it was just a bunch of stars. 

"Hello?" he finally answered the phone. "Tea? No, I'm not Tea. You can talk to her though." Placing a hand over the phone, he said, "It's for you." 

Giggling slightly, she took the phone. "Hello? Oh hi Mokuba. How did you get this number? Wow. He did that? That's pretty cool. So, did Kai- Seto come home from the hospital yet? No? Oh. Okay then. By the way, I have to give him homework. What? No! Mokuba! Err........ Hello Kaiba. Can I speak to- hmmm? Really? Why not, your work. Goodbye." 

While Bakura whined about his phone bill, everybody else wanted to know how it went. 

"Well, Mokuba got this number because Kaiba installed a program where, it's kinda complicated. Basically, you say the name of the person you want to call. It also shows the name of the last person who called, not just the number. There's more to it then that, but that's just the simple version." 

"So is Mr Big shot back yet from the Jellyfish Journey's to the ER?" Joey asked sarcastically. 

"Actually, he is. Just got back today. But, um...... heinvitedmeover." 

"Say what?" Yugi asked. 

"Oh great! Now I have to pay ten dollars for five minutes! Oh man, I'm in sooo much trouble! This is great.....!" 

"Bakura, man, you REALLY should change phone companies." Tristan shook his head sadly. Bakura continued complaining. 

"He what?!" Joey exploded and he wasn't talking about Bakura. "Well, it'll be funny to see what he says when all of us-" 

"Joey, he said that if you come, than there's no point in going," Tea replied flatly. 

"Well, you're not gonna go, right?" Yugi said. 

"Of course I'm-" Seeing the looks on Joey and Yugi's faces that clearly said to her that they're worried about her. It made her think. 

"Guys, I'm sorry, but I have to give him his stupid work and that God awful parcel. I'll fail personal planning if I don't." 

"Fine, but call if you need us," Yugi said. 

"Actually, why doesn't she just take you with her? I'm not allowed to go, but you........" Joey mused. 

"Joey, no. He doesn't want any of you there. Especially you or Yugi," Tea explained gently. 

"Um, Yugi, Tea doesn't have a cell phone," Tristan stated. 

"Well, _obviously_! There has to be some phones in there. If Kaiba doesn't have any, then the world's spinning upside-down and backwards. 

"Or Joey has a brain," Tristan piped up. 

"Watch it....." Joey threatened. 

"I guess that's a pretty accurate way to look at it," Tea grinned. 

"You could say that again," Yugi laughed. 

"Well, I guess I better get going," Tea said. 

"So I guess we'll see you later? If Kaiba doesn't kidnap or kill you or anything, I mean," Joey asked her. 

"Yeah. I'll make sure he doesn't. If by any chance I do get kidnapped or killed or something, you'll be the first to know! Okay, later! Bye!" she called over her shoulder as she headed in the direction of the Kaiba mansion, laden down with a thick stack of paper and a very heavy parcel. 


	14. Exaltations Agonies

Oh my gosh.... It's been so long since my last update.... I apologize to everyone who wants me to write more. I thought I'd have more spare time, but I guess I'm just having too much fun out in the big wide world... Okay, another long awaited chapter. 

Oh, for all you Kaiba fans out there, I'm so sorry about this chapter. I know that it would probably never happen, yet I need it for my story and just to tell you, I do not hate Seto Kaiba! 

Tea dragged her incredibly heavy burden up the driveway. As she walked, hunched over with the weight of the parcel, she couldn't stop her eyes from straying from the ground to pass over the exquisite details of the Kaiba Mansion. For example, lush, very green grass covered the lawns. Beautiful statues and different kinds of artwork covered the lawns. And, Tea noted with a loud groan, the actual mansion stood several metres behind the front lawns. Several _hundred _metres to be exact. 

Doing her best to keep to the road and stifle the almost irresistible temptation to kick over some of those statues and trample the beautiful lawns took up most of her energy, the rest was left to drag King Kaiba his precious homework. Oh, how she hated that man.... If you could even call him that. 

"What do you want?!" a harsh voice demanded out of no where. Startled, Tea dropped the parcel and the stack of paper flew everywhere as it scattered in the slight breeze. 

"W-where did that come from?" Tea stammered on her knees as she desperately tried to retrieve the paper. 

"What do you _want? _Trespassers had better beware if they want to find themselves alive and healthy..." the voice snapped. 

Tea had given up trying to grab the paper. Instead she looked for where that horrible voice was coming from. Then she spotted it. A camera was installed in one of the large, wrought iron gates. The lens seemed to glare angrily at her. 

"I believe I have a personal invitation with Mr Kaiba," Tea replied coolly, looking directly into the camera. 

"Do you have an appointment?" the voice barked. 

"Do I need one?!" Tea snapped, annoyed. Her back hurt from carrying that package and her knees hurt from the weight. 

Suddenly, the voice lost it's harshness. In fact, it sounded youthful, almost childlike... It giggled. "Hi Tea!" 

Tea gave a slight sigh of relief. "Hello, Mokuba. Er, just how do I get in?" 

"I'll open the door for you. It's fun to scare people like this!" Mokuba's voice seemed to fade for a second, then the door swung open. 

It took Tea a full five minutes to cross the remainder of the spectacular lawn. It took another five minutes to cross the elaborate driveway. 

When she reached the towering front door, it swung open by itself. A short boy with long black hair stood bouncing on the balls of his feet in the doorway. 

"Hi Tea! Hi Tea! Hi Tea!" he said. Apparently, he was pleased about something. Tea decided she wouldn't hang around long enough to find out just what made him so happy. 

"Hi Mokuba. I have-" Tea was interrupted as a certain person was heard yelling in the background, "Mokuba! Who is it!?" 

"Your giiiirrllllfriiieennd!" Mokuba yelled cheekily back. Tea had a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach. 

Some crashing noises were heard, then a few thumps. Did I say a few? I meant a LOT that increased in intensity as they went on. Finally, the big finale was one big crash followed by Kaiba swearing. Any guesses what happened there? 

"Oh, it's you," Kaiba said dully, deliberately not looking at her. 

"Yeah. _Me._" She shoved the stack of paper and the heavy package at Kaiba. "Here. Homework and a weird... parcel... thingy. I don't know. Geez, what IS that thing any ways?" 

"None of your business," Kaiba replied smoothly, smirking slightly. 

"Fine!" Tea snapped, "be that way! You drag me all the way out here and THEN act like I'm some kind of delivery girl?! Well, you know what? Have fun with your goddamn parcel! I hope it's a bomb! Goodbye!" 

Tea whirled around to leave. She heard Kaiba comment behind her, "How much did you offer her Mokuba? I'd say she was a pretty lousy delivery girl. I wouldn't have given her three dollars..." 

She felt a hand touch her arm, holding her back. "Tea," Mokuba whispered, "Seto fell down the stairs again. He probably is just in pain and actually, I thought you were a pretty good delivery girl...." Seeing the look in her eyes, he added, "But you know what? Why don't you come in? We're just eating dinner." 

"At 5:00?" Tea asked doubtfully. 

"Yeah, sure, why not? Right Seto?" There was a look in Mokuba's eyes that said, "You insulted her, YOU apologize...." 

A helpless Kaiba merely shrugged and mumbled a "Whatever." So, ten minutes later, Tea sat eating dinner with the two Kaiba brothers. Well, actually, Kaiba went into his office, so it was more accurately with Mokuba. 

"Mokuba," Tea asked, "why does Seto shut himself away like that?" 

"I don't really know, Tea," Mokuba replied thoughtfully. "I think if you want to know that answers, you have to ask Seto." 

"I think I will," Tea said decisively as she rose from the table. "Dinner was great, Mokuba," she added. 

"Thanks. Seto made it," Mokuba replied cheerfully. 

"He can cook?" a puzzled Tea asked. 

"Yeah! He can cook ANYTHING!" Mokuba exclaimed happily. 

"I never knew Seto- err, Kaiba could cook," Tea scratched her head. She got to her feet once again and wandered from the elegant dining table. "Um, Mokuba? Where's his office?" 

"Up the stairs, and turn right. It's the door with all the "Go Away" signs on it." 

"Thanks." In a daze caused by all the splendour, Tea wandered up the stairs. She turned right- and choked back a laugh. Plastered all over the door were signs that said, "Go Away!" "Get Lost!" "Do Not Disturb!" Even one that said, "Not Responsible for Casualties Caused by Annoyance!" Giggling slightly, she pushed her way through the door. Expecting to be greeted with the usual string of insults, the lack of sound made her suspicious. Curious, she cautiously poked her head through the door, not knowing what to expect. Her eyes widened in astonishment as she discovered the reason for his silence. 

Kaiba sat at his desk, face down on the computer keys. His arms hung limply at his sides and he was slouched in his chair. Tea could only stare. Who knew Seto Kaiba, the world's biggest jerk could ever fall asleep like that and look so pathetic. Something told her to let him sleep, but she had a better idea. Sneaking over to the chair, Tea slapped him in the back of the head. Kaiba jerked up, tipped the chair and crashed to the floor. There, he lay in a heap, blood starting to darken the bandage around his hand. Swearing, he sat up. 

"What do _you_ want?!" he snarled. 

"Just because Mokuba said to," Tea smiled cheekily. 

"Well get out," he rose and pointed to the door. "Can't you read? No one except Mokuba can come in! Not my employees, most certainly not _you_!" 

"I guess friends isn't an issue either! As you obviously don't have any, you wouldn't know!" Tea retorted. 

"GET OUT!" he roared. 

"NO! I want to know what the hell's _wrong _with you!" 

"I'm fine! _Get the hell out_!" When he saw Tea refused to move, he lost what little control on his temper he had and dove at her. Only, she had moved and instead of hitting his intended target, he hit the desk with a crash. 

"You idiot. You're only gonna hurt yourself one day," Tea's voice dripped sarcasm. 

"OUT!" 

"Fine, for once you're right. There's no point in being here. Thank you for dinner-" Tea's voice was sweet venom, "Your _Majesty, _and your good for nothing, crappy hostility. I hope you throw yourself out a window one day, jackass! Goodnight." Tea slammed the door and stormed out, ignoring a worried Mokuba's pleas. She slammed the front door and did her best to trample the lawn as she left the building. 

Mokuba watched her storm out. He witnessed a raging Tea seem to spot the flower bed, swerve around and head towards it. Once there, she stamped up and down on the once lush, beautiful flowers. Then, seemingly satisfied with the destruction of property, she headed off to the gates. The scene would have been somewhat comical under different circumstances. 

Turning to his brother, he glanced at him with dark eyes. "What happened up there?" he asked no one in particular. Seto obviously wasn't going to come down and tell him, so the only way was to go ask him himself. So, he stormed up the stairs and found Seto's door wide open. "Seto?" When there was no response, he tried again. "Big brother?" Cautiously, he placed his head inside the door. The room was empty. No Kaiba. But the desk was on it's side; the computer on the floor. Now seriously worried, he warily searched the house. He decided the one place he had to be was in his room. Mokuba tried the door. Damn. Locked. Snickering slightly, the younger Kaiba produced a kit that allowed him to pick locks- a birthday present from Joey. Unknown to him though was that Joey did not give it to him willingly; rather, the former owner had used it to open the doors to Tea, Yugi and Tristan's houses in order to invite himself in and look for food. Confronted by the angry trio, he was forced to relinquish his precious lock set and since Mokuba's birthday was coming up.... It _was _ a good idea at the time. 

Luckily, Seto didn't know about the object in question and Mokuba wasn't about to tell him. It would mean grounded for life... locked in a room with no way out since his ticket to freedom would be confiscated. Not a pretty picture. 

Any ways, he opened the small, black box and took out a slim wire and the pick. He inserted it into the lock and twisted it around a few times, sliding the pick and wire around the mechanism. Finally, he was rewarded with a click. Slowly, he opened the door and heard strange banging noises. Kaiba was banging his head against a wall. 

"Um, Seto?" Mokuba asked timidly. 

The only answer was the consistent banging of his head against the wall. 

"Seto?" Still, no answer. 

"SETO!" Kaiba stopped in mid-bang. 

"What do you want Mokuba?" he asked, irritated that his younger brother had interrupted his self-inflicted abuse. 

"What did you do to Tea?" Mokuba put on his puppy-dog eyes. 

"Nothing. She just decided to leave." Seeing Mokuba wasn't satisfied with that answer, he sighed and tried again. "She poked her nose into my business. Then she _threatened _me! In my own house! Can you believe it?" 

The puppy-dog look Mokuba had on changed into a hard glare. 

"Seto! I told her to go up there. She was worried." 

Kaiba went back to smacking his head against the wall. 

"Dammit Seto, pay attention!" Mokuba yelled. Kaiba stopped, shocked. 

"That's better. What's wrong with you? She was worried and you chased her out of the mansion! You IDIOT! I wanted Tea to stay and she brought you your _homework_! But you just run away! You run and hide! Please, big brother, talk to Tea and Yugi and Tristan and, well.... maybe Joey later on.... My point is that Yugi wants to be friends. Why don't you?" 

Kaiba stared down at Mokuba stunned. New sensations burst in his being, a hot anger started rising from somewhere deep within, near his very core. Kaiba was sick to death of hearing everyone tell him that he should try to be more social, try to be friends with the brat that defeated him. Yugi robbed him of something that day. He robbed him of his esteem, of his confidence. And now, he was being told to befriend that little bastard? _ Never. _Kaiba would rather be dead than friends with that- that- he couldn't think of a word nearly obscene enough to describe him. The rising he felt had turned into an explosion, as just the thought of Yugi and Co. was enough to push him over the edge- and he didn't have far to go. 

Kaiba's features curved into a feral snarl. He shoved Mokuba away from him. Much harder than he meant to and as a result of his strength, Mokuba crashed into his dresser. 

"Listen up Kiddo! I have one thing to say. I will never want to befriend that little runt! I don't give a shit about Tea, that bitch can go to hell for all I care! That whining, bitching puppy-dog can-" He was snapped out of his tirade by a soft sound. Mokuba was slumped against the dresser like a broken doll. but, the sound was coming from him. The supernova-like explosion that had raged within the being known as Seto Kaiba ground to a halt, completely extinguished. Kaiba knelt down to see his little brother. 

"Mokuba? Are you all right?" he asked suddenly afraid. If Mokuba's not then. . . I'll be alone. No. Not again! Rudely shaken out of his thoughts, Kaiba stared at his little brother. 

"Mokuba?" he asked. 

"Don't touch me." The words were muffled. Mokuba was crying harder than ever. 

"Mokuba?" he asked, uncertainly. Kaiba moved a hand to touch his brother's back, meant in a comforting gesture, to try to repair the damage done. 

"DON'T TOUCH ME!!" the young boy screamed. With great difficulty and blinded by his sobs, Mokuba got up and tottered to his room, where he slammed the door as hard as he could. Considering his current state, he didn't slam it hard at all, but it was still loud enough for a stunned Kaiba to hear, before collapsing onto the floor, shaking and hugging himself. He had done it. He had driven away the last thing that had stood with him all these years. Holding himself, he sat on the cold floor, torn by emotion and knowing that there would be no one to hold him. 

* * * 

Tea stalked down the street. She would have called home, but her cell had died, and with great timing too. She also didn't want to face the confrontation with her mother. 

So, she did the next best thing. She went to Yugi's. Ringing the doorbell, she waited anxiously. Grandpa answered the door. 

"Why hello there Tea!" He smiled cheerfully. "Yugi's not here at the moment. I think he's at Tristan's." Tea smiled to conceal her disappointment. Tristan lived at least ten blocks away from the game shop. 

"Well, thanks anywise," she said. Turning to go, she was almost knocked over by Bakura; he was racing down the street as fast as he could, screaming. Feeling she had to stop him, she dove forwards and grabbed his legs. He crashed to the road, shaking uncontrollably. "Maybe you should bring him inside," Grandpa suggested. 

A few minutes later, Bakura was lying comfortably on a couch. Tea was still worried about him though. When loud snoring noises filled the room, she lost it. Waking Bakura up was not easy though. She tried gently shaking, saying his name, poking, rolling and hell, she even slapped him a few times. When she finally realized he wasn't going to wake up, she pushed him off the couch. Still, he slept on. 

Thoroughly annoyed, Tea left him lying on the floor, told Grandpa she was going out for a few hours and that Bakura was still asleep. She left out his current position in the room however. Who went to bed at 6:00 was besides her. She snuck out and shut the door silently behind her. 

Kaiba sat, shivering in the middle of the floor, his arms wrapped around himself. Every detail of tonight's dinner, imprinted clearly in his mind. Tea bothering him, Mokuba confronting him, himself shoving Mokuba against a dresser... Oh my God. He hurt Mokuba. Mokuba didn't want anything to do with him anymore. "Don't touch me!" he had screamed. Kaiba replayed the scenario in his mind over and over and over, etching it deeper and deeper into his wounded soul. The bandage around his hand was stained red. Damn. He'd change it tomorrow. Thoughts of that day, of Tea saving his life, of that stupid idiot Joey and his goddamn jellyfish crowded with the thoughts of Mokuba and tonight. It was going to be a long night.... 


End file.
